Interestingly, in all the reaction to Amy Chua's Wall Street Journal article on Chinese mothering ("Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior"), I have yet to see any systematic allusions to one of the highest-profile icons of motherhood in America: Sarah Palin.
The circumstances of Palin's personal life have resonated powerfully with a large segment of the public. Another segment of the public has been at pains to mock Palin and her lifestyle. For both demographics, Palin is a quintessentially American type, and this characteristic is inseparable from her role as a mother. Bringing Palin and her brand of motherhood into the Tiger Mom discussion puts it into a broader perspective. The narrower focus on whether children should be channeled, pressured, and denied recreation is unquestionably worthwhile, but it doesn't fully illuminate the cultural context in which our choices about that are made. For Westerners, the maternal type is as much as about the mother as it is about the performance of the children.
The Western counterpart of the Tiger Mom—the American counterpart in particular—can arguably be identified as the Mama Grizzly. Palin is one instance of the type: a mother of five, she runs a family business with her husband, but raising her children is Job One. She doesn't expect her children to be perfect; she teaches them principles for honest and honorable life, and accepts that the day will come when she must trust them to act on those principles. She does encourage the children to try new things, master the skills that mean survival in the environment they will live in, and find what they love in life and what they want most to do.
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