Y emailed me Christine Tan’s blog post, “Why Chinese Girlfriends are Superior.” If you are aware of Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and the tumultuous reception it has received from critics, you will appreciate Tan’s satire of Chua’s recent Wall Street Journal article, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior.” Apparently, Tan is receiving her unfair share of vitriol from her readers regarding what is obviously satire that she has had to put disclaimers at the top and bottom of the post. Perhaps these attacks are usually leveled at the most artful and convincing satires. Unfortunately, some folks don’t get the joke. Here is a taste of Tan’s writing that Y specifically pointed out to me:
What Chinese girlfriends understand is that for any relationship to succeed, you must throw yourself 100% into it. Sometimes, that 100% seems like clinginess, insecurity, and neediness to foreigners, but it is actually good for Chinese men’s psyches. An attentive and demanding girlfriend is a girlfriend who cares. Chinese girlfriends ask for 100% but also give 100% back. I am willing to do things that many foreign women find uncomfortable, such as pluck my boyfriend’s unibrow in public, do his homework, throw tantrums in public. But all this is for my man’s confidence, even the tantrums; it shows that he means the world to a beautiful Chinese girl. He is an all-important man capable of provoking female passions.
Luckily for me, Y takes a different 100% approach to our marriage!
Tan is an entertaining and inventive writer, so you should read her full post and its corresponding inspiration on your own. Read Tan’s full post here: Why Chinese Girlfriends Are Superior at Shanghai Shiok!, and Amy Chua’s WSJ essay here: “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior.”
Dynamic Subspace 