"Two Kinds" Free Write

9/17/12

       After reading Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" short story, I could not help comparing it to the TLC show "Toddlers in Tiaras". They just seemed too similar. On the show, the young girls compete in beauty pageants. Their mothers force them to do so, and we know this because in the interviews the girls do nothing but complain. The children have to get their hair and makeup done and sometimes spray tans and fake eyelashes. All so their daughter can become famous. This is exactly what Amy Tan's mother did to her. Mrs. Tan was so obsessed with making Amy famous that she would go to any extent from getting her hair done (and destroyed), to grilling and testing her on various academic subjects.
      It seems that in both the short story and the show, the mothers are living out what they could not have as a child through their children. For example, on the show, many of the mothers competed in beauty pageants when they were young, but did not win. They now have a disturbing obsession with making their own daughters win the show, because they could not do so for themselves. In the short story, it is mentioned that Mrs. Tan had a rough life in China before she moved to the United States. She lost her twin babies and had other hardships. By forcing Amy to whatever it takes to become famous, she was living vicariously through her daughter. I find it interesting how people will do whatever it takes to get whatever they want despite the fact that it might hurt someone else along the way.