Perhaps you’re familiar with the super-strict mum who pushes her kids to be the best at school, sport, and music - no matter what the cost. Well, there’s another feline¹ in the parenting world: Cat Dad.

人们常常听说有对子女超级严格的妈妈，她们要求自己的孩子在学习、运动乃至音乐各个方面都要出类拔萃——为此不惜一切代价。现在，在为人父母的人群中又多了一种新的“女性”化形象：猫爸。

Cat Dad takes a more softly, softly approach to parenting - preferring to be emotionally sensitive, gentle and relaxed about rules and discipline, in the belief that it will make their offspring² self-sufficient and independent. The term has been trending on the micro blogging site Sina Weibo because of a hit Chinese television programme, "Tiger Mom Cat Dad". The two lead characters are, as the title suggests, a fierce Tiger Mom and a chilled-out Cat Dad. Their styles collide³ as they try to raise their young daughter.

猫爸们采取了一种更加温和可亲、温柔随和的教育方式——他们对子女的情绪变化尤为敏感、出手大方、宽于管束，他们相信这样会让孩子拥有自信，学会独立。这个概念如今在新浪微博上流行一时，原因是因为一部当红中国电视剧，《虎妈猫爸》。正如片名所示，片中的两位主角一个是暴脾气的虎妈，一个是淡定的猫爸。在教育小女儿的方式上，他们的教育风格常常相互冲突。

While Cat Dad may not be as well known as Tiger Mother, he’s actually been around nearly as long. One of the original Cat Dads was Chang Zhitao, a father from Shanghai who went head to head in a debate with Chua shortly after her book was published. Despite having vastly different approaches to parenting, both Chua and Chang had daughters who were accepted into Harvard University.

虽然猫爸可能不像虎妈那么为人所知，但是猫爸的存在时间几乎和虎妈一样久了。猫爸的其中一位原型是常智韬——这位父亲和出书不久的“虎妈”蔡美儿在舆论中不争上下。虽然对于为父为母之道两人的做法大庭相径，蔡美儿和常智韬的女儿都上了哈佛大学。

And as if the Tiger-Cat fight wasn’t enough, there’s also another animalistic parenting persona coming from China. Wolf Dad is even stricter than Tiger Mom and is epitomised by Xiao Baiyou, a father who believes that "beating kids is part of their upbringing."

不过好像虎妈猫爸之战远远不够，中国还有另一种兽拟人格家长的代称“狼爸”。狼爸比虎妈还严厉，代表人物是萧百佑，这名父亲深信“棒棍底下出孝子”。

"Just as their names suggest, Cat Dad prefers a gentle approach to children’s education, while Tiger Mom and Wolf Dad believe that education is a painful process," says Vincent Ni of BBC Chinese. "It’s been a long time since Chinese TV aired such a drama that captured the two seemingly⁴ conflicting education philosophies so well."

“顾名思义，猫爸更倾向于用温和的方式教育子女，而虎妈和狼爸则坚信玉不琢不成器。”BBC中文台记者说道，“长期以来，中国总算出了这样一部电视剧，能够精准的把握这两种似乎相互冲突的教育哲学之间的戏剧性冲突。”

More than 80m people tuned⁵ into "Tiger Mom Cat Dad" and the series finale attracted tens of thousands of comments on Weibo. Some defended Cat Dad: "I think there is too much bullying⁶ going on in their household. It’s completely disrespectful. " one user commented. Others saw the dad as a weak character who wasn’t compatible⁷ with his wife: "I think the tiger mother and the cat dad should divorce," one viewer wrote.

超过8千万观众收看了《虎妈猫爸》这部电视剧，其结局在微博上引发了成千上万的评论。有些人支持猫爸，“我觉得在他们的家庭里妻管严的情况实在太多了。猫爸应该为此感到羞愧。”一个网友如此说道。也有人认为猫爸性格儒弱，配不上他的妻子：“我觉得虎妈和猫爸应该离婚，”一个观众这样评论道。