Tiger Moms and the Internet

Asian parents have always been stereotypically labeled as strict. I and along with my other Asian friends can vouch for that. But it has never really been addressed until Amy Chua’s book and her online article on the WSJ. Her article spread through the interwebz like wildfire among the Asian community.

Love it or Hate it the crazy mother we were all raised by finally has a name, ‘Tiger Mother’. This inspired the internet meme called ‘Tiger Mom says’ and the tiger dad version, ‘High Expectations Father’.

Like the popular internet memes, Tiger mom says features funny, stereotypical but exaggerated phrases centered around a stern looking Asian lady and an old Asian man for High Expectations father.

Tiger Mom says is the mother we all have. She expects way too much from you, nothing is ever good enough and has a hard time with communicating her emotions with you or anyone. Harsh but true. No one will understand the Tiger mother like a child raised by one. Asian kids can read these, laugh, agree with them and think of their own moms.

Not a lot of Asians are represented in mainstream media. There are thousands of Asian supporting characters in the biggest movies but rarely are they the main character. So the internet provides a place, a community for Asians to feel like a part of them is represented. Asian stereotypes are poked fun at by Asians, no one is offending anyone which makes the internet a great place for us to find out that we are not the only ones with crazy Asian parents.

On a side note, though there are plenty of strict parents out there that are not Asian. There’s something about Tiger mothers that make them so distinct. I think its because she still has the values and way of thinking from her motherland, she’s still kind of a Fob. An adorable fob though, one that we can’t help but laugh at and love. Thus one of my favorite sites for awhile, mymomisafob.com embodies just that. The title says it all. Its full of funny submissions by kids with fobby mothers. It highlights their funny struggles with the English language and the oh so valuable but sometimes ridiculous life lessons.

One of my favorite submissions:

“Be sure to wear lots of underwear, so if you get rape it’ll take them longer and you can escape.”

Thanks for the great advice fobby moms of the world.