Forcing a seven-year old child to forgo bathroom and water breaks in order to master a piano piece by French composer Jacques Ibert may not be an acceptable pursuit for Western parents. However, Amy Chua uses such unorthodox methods to ensure that her children are the best students in their classes.

Her over-the-top tactics are part of the Chinese way of raising children. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, her book that addresses the subject, expands on the stereotype of the ferocious and demanding Chinese mother. She explains that ‘tiger moms’ assume that their children are strong, not fragile, and behave accordingly.

‘Tiger mothers’ can be stay-at-home moms or working moms. Amy Chua is a professor at Yale Law School.

What makes a Chinese woman, or any of those women who behave similarly, a ‘tiger mom’ is the belief in the importance for children to outperform their classmates in academics and music: not so that they can enhance their parents’ reputations but because high performance means the choice of a quantity of elite job opportunities during college and after graduation. Having the highest grades and being a piano virtuoso does not guarantee the individual the highest salary immediately upon college graduation but it puts him on that trajectory. 

Tiger Moms’ children are banned from play dates and sleepovers, sports and any extra-curricular activities except playing the violin or piano. If a mother like Amy Chua has a promising career as well as profoundly accomplished children, she has surrendered the time to enjoy her children. She loses the daily treasure of discovering who her children are rather than what she aspires for them.

Stay-at-home Western mothers can make the time to ensure that their children can avail themselves of every social, musical, sport, and academic activity. While Western mothers may share the objective of having a well-rounded child who plays sports, an instrument and has high grades while enjoying friendships, the tiger moms’ goal and the goal of those with similar cultural ethics, whether or not they have careers, is to secure the top-ranking spot of the class for their child.

What gives Amy Chua’s endeavors a feminist twist is that she is preparing her daughters to be competitive with their associates in their future workplaces by outperforming. If that won’t break the glass ceiling, nothing will. It’s one thing to play the game; it’s another to come out the winner.