The Reality of Televised Motherhood: The Personal Quest and Feminine Test of Kate Gosselin

Authors

Mary Frances Casper, Boise State UniversityFollow
Deneen Gilmour, North Dakota State University

Document Type

Contribution to Books

Publication Date

1-1-2012

Abstract

The recent surge in reality television programming has provided a window into the worlds of women struggling with parenthood and personhood. Motherhood has undergone the same blurring and fracturing in the media as other gender-based identity categories.¹It is depicted as a quest for personal completion, and female behavior is regulated and normalized through examples of appropriate mothering. These women serve as both role models and warnings, allowing viewers a fly-on-the-wall perspective of family functions and dysfunctions.

Publication Information

Casper, Mary Frances and Gilmour, Deneen. (2012). "The Reality of Televised Motherhood: The Personal Quest and Feminine Test of Kate Gosselin". Media Depictions of Women as Brides, Wives, and Mothers, 27-38.