Who do you hate more, Judgy Moms? GOOP for her “A Day in the Life” working mom blog from a couple of weeks ago, or Amy Chua and the challenge to Western parenting that she threw down in her book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother? Have you read TIME Magazine’s cover story on the Chua Tiger Mother controversy? Click here if no. It’s a much less hysterical and screechy analysis than what’s been presented so far, especially by those who haven’t actually READ it. As for the book, well, it’s already a bestseller. I’m halfway through now. Compared to my ma the Squawking Chicken, Chua is a lightweight.
By the way, another note for those who decided to yell about the book before actually studying it, you might want to consider that this is what appears on its front cover after the title:
This is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs.
This was *supposed* to be a story about how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones.
But instead, it’s about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old.
As for Chua’s kids, Sophia, her oldest, wrote an open letter in response to the attacks on her mother following the article in the Wall Street Journal. Click here if you haven’t already.
It’s really too bad I don’t want children. Because I love to judge other people. And unfairly. And, well, moms are really good at this too. Professional Gossip & Mother sounds like a record-breaking judgy combination. And that still might not be enough to take on the judginess of Gwyneth Paltrow.
Here she is in New York today, obviously working, and very hard too, because if she wasn’t working she would be with her children in London, picking them up in between blowouts and dance class and fittings and sh-t. Oh who cares. All that matters is the clothing. I love her outfit.
Photos from INF