By: Julie Dodge on May 28, 2015
I was born in the Year of the Dragon. I don’t take much (any) stock in astrology, much like Amy Chua, the Tiger mother who tells her own story as a Chinese mother raising two daughters in her satirical memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. [1] Persons born in the Year of the Dragon…
By: Liz Linssen on May 28, 2015
“My goal as a parent is to prepare you for the future – not to make you like me.” [1] A South Korean baby’s first birthday is celebrated much like a wedding. Invitations are sent out to family and friends, a beautiful venue is hired, a lavish meal is prepared, and gifts are expected. The…
By: Deve Persad on May 27, 2015
Technically speaking I hold immigrant status in the western country of my residence. However, the reality is that since all but the infant stages of my life have been lived within Canada, I understand what it is to live under some of the lofty expectations of immigrant parents in a new land. They wanted the…
By: Ashley Goad on May 27, 2015
Hello, my name is Ashley, and I am an addicted Netflix binger. I have had this problem since Netflix originated. Over the Memorial Day weekend, my friends and family were out of town, and I was left to my television and Apple TV. Instead of working ahead in school, or readying myself for my upcoming…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on May 26, 2015
While reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, I really felt it related to my African cultural context. I grew up in an authoritarian social structure where age and gender-related expectations and values that have been taught are strictly enforced. Similar to Chinese Culture, children in my culture have little or no say in the…
By: Dawnel Volzke on May 23, 2015
Amy Chua’s book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother [1], is a story about a Chinese mother’s journey to raise her daughters within American culture. The book is introduced as a story about cultural differences between American and Chinese parenting styles. However, I found the book to be lacking in reality for what most families in American face, no…
By: John Woodward on May 23, 2015
I am glad Amy Chua wasn’t my mother…for a lot of reasons! First, I think I would have been a great disappoint to her. And I would have been miserable, because I have no musical talents, I have average intelligence, and my values (friendship, service, fellowship) would have clashed with Chua’s program for my life.…
By: Travis Biglow on May 21, 2015
May 21, 15 While reading about the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother I really related back to the style of leadership that my father had. I lost my mother when I was in the sixth grade so I did not get to know her real well. But what I did learn is how…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on May 21, 2015
Tiger Mother or Mama Grizzly? Chinese Tiger Mother or Western Mama Grizzly . . . Which metaphor resonates with you? Amy Chua in her provocative book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”, creates a conversation for the culture chasm that exists between parenting in a Chinese culture as opposed to raising children in a Western…
By: Jon Spellman on May 21, 2015
“We aren’t here to raise happy kids, we’re here to raise healthy, competent, thoughtful adults!” So said I with just a hint of smugness round about the time my oldest daughter was a mere 7 years old and still a compliant little bundle of joy… Then over the next ten years I promptly proceeded to…
By: Nick Martineau on May 20, 2015
Liz and I have a group of close friends in Wichita. We try to be vulnerable and share life with each other but as kids have come into the picture we have all acknowledged that the most difficult issues to discuss, or criticisms to receive, are in regards to our parenting and kids. It’s…
By: Mary Pandiani on May 20, 2015
Amy Chua has a bit of Jennifer Hatmaker’s (www.jenhatmaker.com) humor – sarcastic, extremist, and self-deprecating. All the while, she, like Jennifer, hits on some major soft spots in Western parenting, values, and choices. In Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua expresses her desire to raise her two daughters in the Chinese way. Playing off of…
By: Brian Yost on May 20, 2015
Amy Chua’s book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was a fascinating read and really brings to life some key cultural differences in parenting. Her transparent and lively narrative style made reading it a joy. I particularly enjoyed this book because I have had the privilege to teaching seminary classes and intensive training courses…
By: Dave Young on May 20, 2015
The more I read of “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” [i] by Amy Chua, the more I liked it. It was written with honesty and self-parody, by a woman with a keen mind for the absurdity in both eastern and western cultures, as well as bravery in the face of how her Chinese parenting…
By: Clint Baldwin on May 19, 2015
Simon Chan, writing in Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking Faith from the Ground Up, [1] offers a recent attempt to rectify what has been an ongoing conundrum in theological reflection around the world. The theological conundrum is that those who are formally well-educated are often the ones who tell the stories and, unfortunately, formal education has…
By: Michael Badriaki on May 15, 2015
Gill Valentine’s book Social Geographies: Space and Society is an insightful book. The author tackles a lofty subject as she seeks to examine how human relationships take shape and the elements that influence such a process. About her book, Valentine notes: Social geography is an inherently ambiguous and eclectic field of research and writing. It…
By: Dawnel Volzke on May 15, 2015
In chapter 4 of Social Geographies: Space and Society, Valentine discusses the concept of community in relation to they way they mobilize and come together. The author talks about ‘natural communities’ and Darwin’s theories surrounding the relationships between organisms and their surroundings. Also discussed are the theories of Park, who looks at community through competition, ecological…
By: Carol McLaughlin on May 15, 2015
Where the heart is. Home. Late last summer my mother-in-law tripped walking up the concrete stairs just outside her home. Instantly she knew something was wrong. An innocent trip became the tipping point for a major and significant life change. Her fall against the step resulted in a slight crack in her tibia just below…
By: Richard Volzke on May 15, 2015
This week’s reading, Social Geographies: Space and Society by Gill Valentine, explores social geography. Chapter 5 was intriguing with its exploration of various institutions such as schools, prisons and asylums. Valentine begins the chapter by explaining that institutions, “are no longer defined just as fixed break and motor buildings, but have evolved to include networks…
By: Brian Yost on May 15, 2015
The concept of space is intriguing and anything but obvious. Space helps to define who we are, how we think, how we live, how we perceive, how we set priorities, etc. There are so many aspects from Valentine’s book Social Geographies: Space and Society that piquet my interest, but one in particular hits close home.…
