Amy Chua who became a media sensation after her much-memorable albeit controversial book 'Battle hymn of the tiger mother', is making headlines again. This time - for her even more dubious book titled 'The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America'.
The book highlights that there are 8 cultural groups in America -- Jews, Indians, Chinese, Iranians, Lebanese-Americans, Nigerians, Cuban exiles -- that are way more successful than others. The word 'cultural' has been used carefully avoiding such words as 'ethnic' and 'racial'.
The book was co-authored by Chua and her husband Jed Rubenfeld, a fellow Yale professor. The authors write “That certain groups do much better in America than others — as measured by income, occupational status, test scores and so on — is difficult to talk about, In large part, this is because the topic feels so racially charged.”
But 'racially charged' and 'self promoting' is exactly what the critics on twitter and various social media are accusing Chua and Rebenfeld's book of being.
Coincidentally the two authors; Chua - an American Chinese and Rebenfeld - an American Jew; fall into the category of the more successful Americans!
So what makes these 8 cultural groups more successful than their counterparts? According to the book its the 'triple package' - a superiority complex, insecurity, and impulse control.
The authors add that "the Triple Package is accessible to anyone. It's a set of values and beliefs, habits and practices, that individuals from any background can make a part of their lives or their children's lives, enabling them to pursue success as they define it."
An early review by the New York Post says the book uses "some specious stats and anecdotal evidence" to argue that eight specific groups are "just superior to others and everyone else is contributing to the downfall of America."
Reviewer Maureen Callahan stated on The globe and mail that "Racial stereotyping aside, The Triple Package doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, since the authors’ case for cultural superiority is largely based on “dubious statistics and anecdotal evidence,”
Another critic Peter Kiang, director of the Asian American Studies Program at University of Massachusetts Boston says on Yahoo Shine, "I don't see any credible cultural superiority argument that can be made in this way…and assume that the authors' intentions are primarily meant to enhance marketing and publicity for their book."
He adds, "The self-serving nature of the argument does seem to reveal the authors' own senses of superiority and insecurity, but not so much their impulse control."
Amy Chua has published two other scholarly books prior to her 'stardom'. She says that 'battle hymn of a tiger mother' was inspired by a personal struggle with her then 13-year-old daughter's rebellious teenage years.
Even though the Economist named Chua's first book as one of its books of the year, it was tiger mum that propelled Chua to fame.
In 'battle hymn of a tiger mother' Chua argues that strict chinese-style child-rearing to be superior than the all other methods of parenting.
This book highlights situations like calling her daughter 'garbage' for being rude, to throwing a card her daughter hand-made for her back in her face calling it sub-par, and forbidding her daughters from watching TV, going for sleepovers and having boyfriends.
She even wrote that she threatened to give away her daughter's beloved dollhouse to the salvation army if she didn't master a complicated classical composition within days.
On her website Chua says "This book is basically the story of my own transformation as a mother. It’s not a parenting book; it’s a memoir. It’s also supposed to be funny, filled with zany showdowns between me and daughters"
She adds "My book has been controversial. Many people have misunderstood it. If I could push a magic button and choose either happiness or success for my children, I’d choose happiness in a second. But I don’t think it’s as simple as that; it can be a tough world out there, and true self-esteem has to be earned"
What are your views on the subject of Amy Chua's new book? Do leave a comment below to tell us what you feel about it. We would also like to know your thoughts on the 'tiger mum' parenting style. So do take a minute to share your opinion with us.
Sources: https://amychua.com/, https://shine.yahoo.com, https://www.today.com, https://nypost.com,