Amy Chua, also known as The Tiger Mother, received a high six-figure advance for her 2011 memoir. In this book, she recounts in great detail the ways in which she uses traditional Chinese parenting methods to drive her daughters towards perfection in the arts. This is old news, of course. But now there’s Dara-Lynn Weiss, aka the Diet Mom. In the April issue of Vogue magazine, Dara writes honestly and openly about the strict parenting methods she employed to help her overweight seven-year-old daughter slim down. Within a few weeks, she, too, had a book deal.
What do these women have in common? The publishing world would say that Chua and Weiss are both exemplars of the new “damned if you do/damned if you don’t” parenting genre. If you push your kid too hard, you get called out. If you act too lax, you are scrutinized for not demanding more. Either way, if you are willing to throw your daughters under the bus, there’s always something to write about.
It’s not so much about the children in these scenarios as it is about the mother. The secret to securing a book deal these days is to expose one’s inner bitch to the world. Go to The Huffington Post to continue reading…
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