DISGRASIAN™

Wherein My Halloween Costume Is Revealed + GIVEAWAY

This will inspire eyerolls from those with meme fatigue but, you know, I just had to.

Here’s a full-length shot:

Continue reading Wherein My Halloween Costume Is Revealed + GIVEAWAY

Filed under: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Grrrrr, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Hardass Asian Moms, Hardass Asian Mothers, Hardass Asian Parents, Holidays, Memes That Won't Die, Tiger Mom, Tiger Mom Costume, Tiger Mother, Trick Or Treat, Ungrateful Children

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior: Because Their Daughters Get Into Harvard, That’s Why

For those of you eagerly awaiting a very public failure from one of Tiger Mom Amy Chua’s prodigy offspring–like a crack cocaine bender or half-naked photos leaked onto the Internet–so that you can feel better about your own parenting-style/feel better about the lax way in which you were parented/feel better about the strict way in which you were parented that weirdly didn’t yield the same sort of results/feel better about the fact that “the Chinese way” isn’t better therefore you don’t have to confront your diminishing place in the global power structure/oh hell, just feel better about yourself in general…

Um, better luck next year?

Because this year, Chua’s Number One Daughter, Sophia (pictured), has been accepted to Harvard–Chua’s alma mater and where she and her invisible husband, Jed Rubenfeld, received their law degrees–despite the fact that the university took only 6.2 percent of its undergraduate applicants for the Class of 2015, which was the lowest admissions rate of all the Ivies. And according to Above the Law, Sophia has already decided to matriculate there as well.

But hey, there’s still time for Lulu–Chua’s Number Two Daughter who teaches her Tiger Continue reading Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior: Because Their Daughters Get Into Harvard, That’s Why

Filed under: Allergic to Failure, Amy Chua, Amy Chua Tiger Mother, Asians Hate Failure, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Class of 2015, Failure, Harvard, Harvard Law School, Harvard University, Jed Rubenfeld, Legacies, Louisa Chua-Rubenfeld, Lulu Chua-Rubenfeld, Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, Tiger Cubs, Tiger Mom, Tiger Mom's Daughter Accepted To Harvard, Tiger Mom's Daughter Gets Into Harvard, Tiger Moms, Yale Law School

Intern Jasmine’s Links Of The Daysian

We can agree that Lang Lang‘s last White House performance, which featured him playing “My Motherland” from the Korean film Battle On Shangganling Mountain, was beautiful. But was it political too? [WSJ]

Whatever, Average Asian Aging Process – we are no average Asians! DISGRASIAN ladies do not abide by your aging rules. [Buzzfeed]

See this walking poodle in a snowsuit. See how it WERKS. [BWE]

MTV Asia’s “Shibuhara Girls” aims to prove that vapidity is an international language we all can understand. [WSJ]

Jen Kwok’s “Tiger Mom” rap is hardcore enough for hip-hop – “Let me tell you about my battle hymn! Piano! Violin! Piano! Violin!” [a certain jen ne sais kwok]

A “Tiger Mom” in the US, but an “American Mom” in China – the Chinese-language version of Amy Chua‘s “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” is entitled “Being A Mom In America”. The cover features “a photo of a smiling Ms. Chua standing against a red, white and blue map of the United States.” [WSJ]

The art of noodle-making – Hung Ry in New York City’s NoLita neighborhood is fortunate to have Master Huacan Chen making hand-pulled noodles. [NYT]

Dear Mr. Riccardo Tisci, creative director, House of Givenchy: We here at DISGRASIAN headquarters LOVED your house’s spring/summer 2011 Haute Couture presentation. From the Japanese-inspired fashion to the gorgeous Asian models you cast, we cannot get enough. Can we have three of those oversize samurai helmets? We can pay you in love, kisses, and eternal gratitude. Love, Jen, Diana, and Intern Jasmine. [Huffington Post - thanks, Tamlyn!]

Dear Styleite: We know someone had to ask if the increased use and visibility of Asian models in the industry is just a trend. But quit harshing on our fashion-induced buzz! At least until our Givenchy samurai helmets arrive. Love, Jen, Diana, and Intern Jasmine. [Styleite]

[photo via Fashionista]

Filed under: Average Asian Aging Process, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Battle on Shangganling Mountain, Being A Mom In America, Chinese hand-pulled noodles, Givenchy, haute couture, House of Givenchy, Huacan Chen, Hung Ry, Jen Kwok, Lang Lang, MTV Asia, Riccard Tisci, Shibuhara Girls, Styleite, Tiger Mom

‘Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother’: You Hated The Excerpt, Now Read The Book

Three years ago, when Diana and I were kicking around book ideas, there was one that rose to the top for us, one we thought was pure gold. Its working title was: “How to Raise a Child Prodigy.” Although neither of us were prodigies–a fact that filled us both with regret–and neither of us were parents yet, we felt qualified to write the book anyway, because we were products of Hardass Asian Parenting, which was no different, in our minds, from Prodigy Parenting (see: the long, ever-expanding list of Asian prodigies). Plus, we imagined the book as a way to talk about what it’s like to be Asian American without getting heavy, a way to laugh at ourselves, something honest but still tongue-in-cheek. Of course there would be some non-Asians, aspirational parents in particular, who would buy the book for parenting tips and take it seriously…suckas!

Only we never wrote it. We started it as a blog, set to private, but didn’t get beyond a couple of entries. In hindsight, our lack of follow-through shines a light on two rather important details: 1) why we weren’t prodigies in the first place and 2) why we weren’t qualified at all to write the book. During that time, we did manage to bang out a long list of child-rearing ideas, ideas we’d been exposed to personally that we planned to explore in our little parenting guide. A selection of those ideas appears below, from a document dated March 2008:

Continue reading ‘Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother’: You Hated The Excerpt, Now Read The Book

Filed under: Amy Chua, Amy Chua Tiger Mother, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Books, Chinese Mothers, Chinese Parenting, Failed Prodigies, Hardass Asian Moms, Hardass Asian Mothers, Hardass Asian Parenting, Hardass Asian Parents, Memoirs, Mothers and Daughters, Parenting Books, Parents, Polarizing Figures, Prodigies, Tiger Mothers, Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior, Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior Wall Street Journal