Should we Ditch the ‘Gender Reveal Parties’ Trend?
“Gender reveal parties” weren’t a thing until 2008 when a lady came up with the idea and posted her experience in her blog. She asked her midwife to seal in an envelope the baby’s gender. She baked two duckling-shaped cakes with blue icing inside one and pink icing in another. During the party, they sliced the cake with the pink icing—she’s having a girl. The whole family loved the idea.
A magazine publication read her blog and posted about it, and the rest is history.
It’s a trend that’s sparked joy and excitement for many families. But let’s be real—gender reveal parties haven’t always gone off without a hitch. Some have gone awry in the most spectacular and cringey ways. So, isn’t it time we let this trend fade into the past? Can 2025 be the year we ditch this trend, and go back to welcoming our babies without the fanfare?
Here are some reasons why gender reveal parties should be a thing of the past:
It’s gotten way out of hand
How many stories have you heard about gender reveal parties going horribly wrong? There’s the El Dorado wildfire that burned at least 7,050 acres and took a firefighter’s life, or the tragic case of the grandmother who died after being hit in the head with shrapnel from a homemade “pipe bomb” filled with colored powder.
These parties seem to be trying to one-up one another without regard for environmental hazards or the safety of the attendees. I get that welcoming a new baby is a joyful moment to be shared with family and friends, but it can still be done in a more low-key manner without your guests feeling like they’re risking their lives so that they can eat cake with blue or pink icing.
Gender Reveal Parties Can Reveal The Parents’ Disappointment
It’s understandable for parents to have a preference for their baby’s gender. But the thing with gender reveal parties is that some parents aren’t able to hide their disappointment when the baby’s gender isn’t what they hoped for. Some parents even throw a tantrum and ruin the party and the moment for their partner, because the baby isn’t who they were expecting.
It Encourages Stereotyping
With gender reveal parties, blue is always for baby boys and pink is for baby girls. Decorations have also been stereotyped with cars, and bowties for baby boys while dolls and dresses are for baby girls. But why can’t girls like cars? And why can’t boys play with dolls? Why do we need to classify gender based on colors? These babies aren’t even born yet, but they are already being dictated to like only certain colors or pursue an interest based on outdated stereotypes.
It Takes Away The Joy Of Welcoming a New Baby
Some parents throw gender reveal parties just for the sake of posting on social media, while others are under pressure to have one for the sake of having one. Instead of focusing on the arrival of a newborn, the parents are focusing on how creative they can make their gender reveal parties in the hopes that it will go viral, turning what should be a personal celebration into a social media spectacle.
Even The Lady Who Invented It Regrets It
Jenna Karvunidis, the lady who had the idea for the gender reveal party now considers them to be problematic and sending the wrong message, she even felt responsible for some of these “gender reveal parties” that have gotten out of hand.
In 2019, she posted a photo of her family with her 1st daughter wearing a suit and captioned it “PLOT TWIST, the world’s first gender-reveal party baby is a girl who wears suits!”
Final thoughts
So, if the lady who came up with the idea for “gender reveal parties” already regrets it, shouldn’t we all give it a rest? What started as a fun idea has spiraled into a trend that’s more harmful than joyful. Instead of focusing on pink or blue, let’s shift our focus to what matters most, welcoming a new life into the world with love and excitement, sans the drama and the social media stunts.
