Three years ago she was arguably the most hated mother in America, but last night Amy Chua spoke in front of a capacity audience at the Mansion House in Dublin.
The Yale professor of law caused a worldwide stir with her book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, which she published as a memoir, but which some interpreted as a parenting manual. Her tale of the tough love parenting she handed out to her two daughters was considered by many to be bullying.
Some 600 people attended The Gloss magazine's Look the Business event, in partnership with Vodafone, to hear her speak.
She also talked about her latest book, The Triple Package, which she wrote with her husband Jed Rubenfeld. This examines eight ethnic communities in the US which have overachieved, including her own Chinese community. She defines the triple package as having a superiority complex yet being insecure and with a desire to stick at things to succeed.
Ireland's two female presidents, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese meet the criteria, she said. "They were given a sense of real exceptionality from their parents, yet both had a deep sense of insecurity for being outsiders – Catholics in a predominantly Protestant university [Trinity College] and being women in a world very much dominated by men."
