Not Tiger Moms

Reframing the cultural narrative of Asian American motherhood—through these mothers' own voices and experiences.

The high stakes of motherhood today go beyond who qualifies as a good or bad mother, to who belongs and who is other. For Asian American mothers, these judgments have often been shaped by the enduring stereotype of the strict, academically driven "tiger mother."

In Not Tiger Moms, Miliann Kang explores the racist, xenophobic roots of this trope and how it undermines Asian American mothers, silencing their voices and inhibiting their connections to their children, to each other, and to other mothers, including their own. Through deeply personal and candid interviews, Asian American mothers who were born or grew up predominantly in the United States share stories that upend perceptions of them as both model minority reproducers and foreign threats. Instead, they chart new pathways to and through motherhood, imagining more expansive possibilities not only for Asian American mothers, but for all mothers.