*ROAR* ... It Is Only A Memoir!
Just yesterday I had mentioned on this space that I am planning on picking up the book Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother and this morning the newspaper ran an article about the backlash that the author, Amy Chua, has been receiving since the much talked about article on The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 8 (presumably a promotional tie-in for the book release) and the subsequent release of the book on Jan. 11.
Even without opening up a page of her book, which I can't wait to do, I would say to anyone who hates the book to remember that this is a memoir. Here's the definition of a memoir: "an account of the author's personal experiences". No doubt that parenting is a debatable topic, much like immigration policy, it amazes me that people go to such lengths to show their disagreement on her methods.
By the way, are all these people who disagreed so vehemently parenting experts? Is there such thing as a parenting expert? Can someone be an expert at parenting? If there are such experts in parenting, why haven't they come up with idiot-proof parenting formulae for all parents of the world much like a formula to calculate the area or the circumference of a circle? Can parenting be made into a formula? If there is such a formula, how would a parent know if it is the right one? A right formula for themselves or for their kids? Is there a right or wrong way to parent? Am I reading too much of The Interrogative Mood?
My take is this:
~ anyone who has lived life long enough can write a memoir (but not everyone should);
~ anyone who has been a parent has enough credit to talk about their preferred parenting method; and
~ there is no right or wrong way to parent because every child and every parent is different.
When I do pick up her book, I would want to find out what is her formula to parenting and what exactly is she trying to achieve for her girls and/or for herself. And I do hope that there will be a sequel to this book which documents her girls' lives from where this current book left off so that we could all see for ourselves if her formula is indeed superior.
Even without opening up a page of her book, which I can't wait to do, I would say to anyone who hates the book to remember that this is a memoir. Here's the definition of a memoir: "an account of the author's personal experiences". No doubt that parenting is a debatable topic, much like immigration policy, it amazes me that people go to such lengths to show their disagreement on her methods.
By the way, are all these people who disagreed so vehemently parenting experts? Is there such thing as a parenting expert? Can someone be an expert at parenting? If there are such experts in parenting, why haven't they come up with idiot-proof parenting formulae for all parents of the world much like a formula to calculate the area or the circumference of a circle? Can parenting be made into a formula? If there is such a formula, how would a parent know if it is the right one? A right formula for themselves or for their kids? Is there a right or wrong way to parent? Am I reading too much of The Interrogative Mood?
My take is this:
~ anyone who has lived life long enough can write a memoir (but not everyone should);
~ anyone who has been a parent has enough credit to talk about their preferred parenting method; and
~ there is no right or wrong way to parent because every child and every parent is different.
When I do pick up her book, I would want to find out what is her formula to parenting and what exactly is she trying to achieve for her girls and/or for herself. And I do hope that there will be a sequel to this book which documents her girls' lives from where this current book left off so that we could all see for ourselves if her formula is indeed superior.
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