Jon and Kate Plus Eight

In Jon and Kate Plus Eight, Kate and Jon Gosselin live in central Pennsylvania where they face the daily challenges of life as the parents of eight. The married couple always yearned to have children, but they could not on their own, so they had to use fertility treatments. As a result of these treatments, the couple miraculously had eight children together; a set of twin girls and a set of sextuplet boys. However, there is an episode where Kate is overwhelmed by all the chores of the house and tries to tend to her children at the same time, which causes her to consider hiring a cleaning assistant. Throughout the entire episode, there are several examples that simultaneously reinforce and dismantle hegemonic representations based on masculinity and femininity.


The Gosselins have the roles of a traditional married couple. While Jon works full-time as an IT analyst, Kate resigns from her job as a nurse to take care of the children at home. In other words, the fact that Jon works full-time and Kate stays at home implies that he is indeed the “breadwinner,” and reiterates his role as the traditional husband and father. Likewise, every day, Kate tends to the children, cleans the house, and prepares meals for her family. Therefore, she pursues her role as the traditional housewife.


In like fashion to the roles of the Gosselins, Johnson states that the expectations of a marriage through patriarchy: “believe that mothers should stay home and that fathers should work out of the house.” (Johnson 95) He is saying that according to patriarchy, men’s number one priority is his career and to provide financially for his family. Contrarily, women’s main goal is to establish good health and the welfare of her husband and children. These gender-based responsibilities are what reinforce hegemony. Thus, Jon and Kate’s roles are a hegemonic representation of marriage.


Kate illustrates the responsibilities that the traditional housewife performs in her home. When it comes to cleaning, Kate admits to possibly having a case of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, also known as OCD. In like manner to the traditional housewife, she cleans the entire house three times per day. For example, Kate literally mops the wooden floor, wipes the table, and disinfects six high chairs three times throughout the day. In addition to these chores, she washes the dishes, wipes the countertop, and cleans the stove; all of which are the works and done on a daily by the traditional housewife.


Johnson disregards the notion that women are physically weaker than men, and agrees that “women perform a huge share of hard physical labor.” (Johnson 95) He is stating that although men’s bodies are built more masculine than women’s bodies, it does not necessarily mean that they are stronger and have more strength than women. Due to the fact that women have an innumerable amount of duties, especially wives and mothers, they must possess enough strength and energy to execute them. For example, a woman, who is a wife and mother, has to keep the home clean, goes grocery shopping, and cooks meals for her family so that they could function properly and in a positive manner. In addition, it is her duty to stay physically involved in the children’s lives and satisfy her husband’s sexual needs, which requires all of her strength and energy; the woman seems a bit more masculine than feminine.



Works Cited
Johnson, Allan G. “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an US”. The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy 1997: 5 pages
“The Housekeeper Hunt.” Jon and Kate Plus Eight.