Many people typically throw baby showers when they find out they're pregnant and expecting a bundle of joy. However, recently aside from baby showers, gender reveal parties have become a new tradition in a lot of people's homes.
Experts Say It's Time To Ditch Gender Reveal Parties Altogether
Gender reveal parties celebrate the gender of the unborn baby.
Unsplash | Natalie Chaney
Parents plan an entire party to reveal the sex of their child — male or female — that is jam-packed with blue and pink decor and games.
While many love the idea of gender reveals, there has been some controversy surrounding them.
Unsplash | Juan Encalada
One gender reveal party gone wrong actually caused widespread wildfires in California last year. And, more recently, a soon-to-be dad died when a gender reveal device exploded and went wrong.
Additionally, many people disagree with the idea of "gender reveals" altogether.
Aside from gender reveals being a tad dangerous, many have spoken out that the party is completely archaic and wrong, as it's "choosing" the baby's gender without letting the baby have a say.
As of recently, many people have been outspoken about people's right to be their authentic selves.
Unsplash | Sharon McCutcheon
From gender to sexuality, many are concerned that parents assigning gender to their children can interfere with their true identities.
Recently, a pediatrician has spoken out in an op-ed saying we need to end the parties altogether.
Unsplash | Hush Naidoo
Dr. Alok Patel, writing for the website In The Know, said that gender reveals have to go, as they play into societal stereotypes and also assume that "gender is binary."
Additionally, a board-certified pediatrician said that assuming gender can be dangerous.
Unsplash | Dainis Graveris
Dr. Rochelle Wilson, a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist, said that many things can happen during pregnancy — meaning that sometimes, the gender they originally announce may not be the gender the child decides.
She said that sometimes, the baby can have a totally different gender, too.
“What the general public most likely does not realize is that anything can happen during pregnancy, more specifically, the chromosomes may say one thing, yet the development of external (genitalia) and internal (ovaries) reproductive structures may not coincide,” she said.
Even the woman who created gender reveals has spoken out saying to cancel them.
Jenna Karvunidis, coined the "inventor" of the gender reveal party, said that it's time for them to go. She originated the "celebration" by cutting into a cake.
"We had a knife and we cut into it all together and we all saw the pink icing at the same time, and found out that we were having a girl," Karvunidis told NPR.
Now, she's saying that her views on gender and sexuality have changed.
Unsplash | Jr R
Karvunidis said she just "liked to throw parties" when she threw hers in 2008 — before people were doing their own parties to share on Instagram. She claims that it's time to just celebrate "the baby" and not "the gender."
And, Karvunidis shared on Facebook that the baby from the original gender reveal party defies gender norms.
In a Facebook post, she wrote:
"A weird thing came up on Twitter, so I figured I'd share here. Someone remembered it was me who 'invented' the gender reveal party. I had written about my party on my blog and a parenting forum in July 2008. It was picked up & and an interview with me was published in The Bump magazine and the idea kinda spread from there. I've got the article framed," she said.
She claimed that she had "mixed feelings" about what she contributed to society.
"Anyway, I've felt a lot of mixed feelings about my random contribution to the culture. It just exploded into crazy after that. Literally - guns firing, forest fires, more emphasis on gender than has ever been necessary for a baby," she continued.
She claimed that gender just doesn't matter.
Unsplash | Sharon McCutcheon
"Who cares what gender the baby is? I did at the time because we didn't live in 2019 and didn't know what we know now — that assigning focus on gender at birth leaves out so much of their potential and talents that have nothing to do with what's between their legs.
PLOT TWIST, the world's first gender-reveal party baby is a girl who wears suits!" she said.
Many people online seem to agree.
Many people online believe that anatomy and gender are not synonymous. Many believe that people should be "open" to their children's true self.
Others are tired of gender reveals causing problems.
Many also believe that the outcome of gender reveals are worse than the actual gender reveal itself.
Others are tired of gender reveals causing problems.
Many also believe that the outcome of gender reveals are worse than the actual gender reveal itself.
So, what do you think?
Is it time to do away with gender reveal parties for good, or are they just harmless fun for expecting parents?
h/t In The Know
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