Kate Gosselin: the mommy everyone loves to hate.

Something caught my eye last night as I was waiting for the subway. Thankfully it wasn’t a giant rat – or at least I wouldn’t call her that, though some people might refer to Kate Gosselin that way. Her beachy, blond photo on the cover of People magazine was hard to ignore as I walked past the newsstand, but I decided against buying a copy, because I can’t stand to watch the tabloids promote Kate even as they tear her down.

In response to Kate’s cover photo, “Mom of 4 Bonnie Fuller” asked, “Is Kate Putting Self Promotion Ahead Of Parenting On Her Priority List?“  I don’t know, “Mom of 4 Bonnie Fuller.”  Is Kate putting self-promotion ahead of parenting, or is self-promotion just a part of having a job in media, “Mom of 4 Bonnie Fuller?”  Where are your kids while you write your columns on your website with your name all over it?

We all know Kate Gosselin is the Mommy the media loves to hate.  Kate appeared on the cover of Life & Style this Spring, with the phrase “OUT OF CONTROL MONSTER!” splayed across her chest. In an article about Kate’s new book, the rag accused her of exploiting her children for cash, which may seem inarguable, given that she’s chosen to raise her kids on-camera. But the piece went on to criticize her for appearing on Dancing With The Stars, which had her flying “3,000 miles from their Pennsylvania hometown once a week so she can compete on the show,” adding, “The kids, meanwhile, are left behind – in tears.”  Really?  How do we know Kate’s kids are left in tears while their Mom is on TV or a book tour or off getting botox and breast implants in Mexico with her bodyguard? When Kate is traveling, her kids are spending time with their Dad, picnicking with his 23-year-old girlfriend. If they’re crying, maybe he should do something about it?

Kate is constantly accused of exploiting her children and being a self-promoter, and while I’m not saying there isn’t truth to both of those statements, I have trouble understanding how Kate is the “bad guy” when she’s the parent hustling to feed her family after her husband cheated on her. No doubt she’s said some inappropriate things out of anger towards him, but why is it that Jon’s cheating scandal seems to have completely disappeared from the annals of pop-culture memory? More importantly, why is it that Jon has been referred to by the media as a babysitter to his own children? It seems to me that the villification of Kate Gosselin is an indirect attack on working mothers everywhere. Continue reading »

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Is your teenager watching reality shows where the participants plastic surgery is openly discussed? A husband/wife team of academics recently published a paper in the journal Body Image arguing that viewing such programming makes the younger members of the at-home audience more likely to consider such work for themselves.

Charlotte Markey, an associate professor of psychology at Rutgers-Camden, along with spouse Patrick Markey of Villanova University, surveyed just under 200 teenage and 20something viewers of either an extreme makeover or a home renovation program. The Markeys found that those who watched the makeover program were more likely to say after viewing the show that they would consider cosmetic surgery for themselves than those they assigned to watch the home re-do.

The Markeys say that young female viewers seem to think they are watching someone achieve their dreams when they see plastic surgery presented in a positive light, writing on comment cards that they viewed these shows as “inspirational.” In this light, Teresa Giudice’s decision to publicly investigate breast augmentation surgery while the cameras were rolling on Real Housewives of New Jersey might well have resulted in some increased business for plastic surgeons since that was presented as an empowering fulfilment of a dream. Continue reading »

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How is this not getting more news coverage? I know, Wikileaks has compromised the “war on terror” and oil still oozes into the gulf, with a storm bearing down on it for good measure. I know, President Obama is going on The View. But for pure newsworthy entertainment value, how did the camera crews of the world manage to miss Kate Gosselin and her 8 Goss-lings going camping with Sarah Palin?

You have to figure the shoe has yet to drop on this one. With Palin about to film her new television show, and Gosselin still filming hers, this is unlikely to be that rare event in either life that goes undocumented. I’m sure we’ll have many (heavily publicized) opportunities to enjoy the elder Palins schooling the young Gosselins in the ways of Alaska. (Will Bristol and Levi offer any bonus chastity lessons? Stay tuned.) But meanwhile, we’ll just have to hypothesize the topics of Palin-Gosselin hiking chat. Continue reading »

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We all parent a little differently. Some of us our raise voices, others impose consequences. Some let anything go, others keep it all in check. Moms and dads are people with different life experiences, different personal philosophies. But that shouldn’t stop us from boiling it all down into a few easy categories.

Which parenting type describes you best? Which categories do you straddle?

Momania blogger Theresa Walsh Giarusso, writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, thinks that she, like Kate Gosselin, might be a punitive parent. Continue reading »

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Under scrutiny from lawmakers over child labor issues, “Kate Plus 8″ may lose six of its cast members — Jon and Kate Gosselin’s six-year-old sextuplets, according to The Associated Press.

Pennsylvania state law allows children under the age of 7 to work in film, but not on television shows such as TLC’s “Kate Plus 8.,” according to Philadelphia lawmaker Rep. Thomas Murt (R-Pa.).

In other words, Aaden, Alexis, Collin, Hannah, Joel and Leah — who turned 6 in May — would not be allowed to participate in the show. Continue reading »

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Does Kate Gosselin really need mommy ‘me’ time?

If you are the headline writers for RadarOnline, the answer is yes. “Everyone needs a little ‘me’ time, especially if you’re a mom-of-eight,” blared the celebrity gossip site as they shared their hot-off-the-digital-presses photos of Kate Gosselin getting her nails done and visiting the tanning salon.

Let’s take this apart, shall we? Continue reading »

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The Gosselins have been another of my guilty pleasures ever since my husband, flicking channels one night after a day of moving house with a six-month old, a two-year-old and a five-year-old, came across Jon attempting to put all six toddlers into ski suits and we settled in for a good bout of schadenfreude. I resisted their pull last season as the marriage imploded (just too prurient) but I can watch Kate parent her eight on her own with only a few qualms—and who could resist the fabulous juxtaposition of two cultural trends that is the spectacle of Kate Plus Eight … getting chickens?

Because, of course, I want chickens. I envision them pecking around the yard, the kids caring for them and gathering up the fresh eggs, us adding an element of responsibility and authenticity to the kids’ world–and listening to Kate as she tells the camera how she thinks the chickens will add to their lives, I hear all my chicken dreams reflected back to me. But I live in rural New Hampshire, and I have plenty of friends with chickens. I already know that, like so much else in the Gosselins’ heavily planned but so often gone awry  lives, chickens aren’t likely to live up to their bucolic promise. Continue reading »

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