While walking into a baby toy or clothing store, have you noticed that most probably there will be two sections in the shop divided between blue and pink? If not, when you look for gifts, you will observe that objects for boys are blue whereas objects for girls are pink in colour.
Ever thought, why? We have always been taught with such rigid gender stereotypes that we can subconsciously remember that blue is for boys and pink is for girls. This also results in making us assume that any other gender other than male and female is abnormal and having any other sexuality other than being straight is totally out of the case.
Here, in this post, we will learn about one of the biggest factors responsible for gender reveal parties.
How did this trend even come into existence?
As per a Vogue Report, Los Angeles-based blogger Jenna Karvunidis claims to be the pioneer of this global trend. In 2008, she threw a party revealing her child to be a girl by cutting open a cake with pink icing and wrote about it on her blog High Gloss And Sauce. Throughout the 2010s, the popularity of reveal parties steadily grew and made it a famous trend across the world.
How popular have these parties become?
Gender reveal parties have become a popular opinion among celebrities too. Pinterest is just full of millions of ways to theme gender reveal parties, making it a popular opinion among people. The most famous case of gender reveal parties was when Anas and Asala Marwah, who are Syrian Influencers based out of Dubai announced the birth of their second child in a rather fabulous way, by taking it to Burj Khalifa.
Crazy, right?
Well, for them because not only was it popular over the internet but their famous YouTube channel ‘The Anasala Family’ which has a following of 7 million fans. According to reports, this rather tall stunt cost them close to $100,000.
Another case of cricketer Andre Russell, who welcomed a baby girl last year and announced the good news through a cricket match. In a video trending on the Internet, Andre Russell holds a cricket bat while his wife holds the ball. Her family and close friends stood around as thrilled spectators as Russell demonstrated how to throw the ball in a particular way. The pink smoke began blowing out just as the ball began rolling, catching everyone off guard!
How are these parties going out of hand?
Well, now I’m gonna tell you about some parties which seriously went “out of hand”.
As a result of a gender reveal gone horribly wrong, an off-duty Border Patrol agent started a 47,000-acre wildfire in Arizona. Extinguishing that fire cost more than $8 million ($8,188,069). In this case, the defendant pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour count of causing a fire without a permit and was sentenced to five years probation and $220,000 in restitution, the Daily Star reported.
The family uses an alligator for the gender reveal party. Yes, you read it right!
Miller and Kliebert, the soon-to-be parents, used watermelon and another “member of the family” — a live 60-year-old alligator named Sally. During the video clip, Kliebert is seen wrangling Sally with a friend, throwing a small watermelon into the reptile's mouth. As soon as the alligator snaps her mouth shut, the watermelon cracks and reveals blue goo – the couple is having a baby boy. The partygoers — who are silent as Kliebert attempts the “watermelon crush” – erupt into cheers as soon as the gender is revealed.
Can you guess the song in the background? It was probably Watermelon-sugar high! Just kidding :P
A gender revelation party on Australia's Golden Coast took a dramatic turn as a car used to spit out suddenly ignited blue smoke. In the latest drone video released by police, the big reveal initially goes as planned, with celebrating guests filming as the car drives down a road, engulfed in blue smoke. After it comes to a stop, however, the car bursts into flames and the driver and guests are forced to abandon it. It sat in the middle of the road on fire, amid plumes of smoke which were now black.
How are these parties negatively affecting society and children?
The doctors can confirm the ‘birth gender’ by various kinds of methods in the medical field, but the main question that arises is whether the child wants to embrace the same gender as assigned to the child at birth?
Keeping themes such as - “Guns or Glitter,” “Rifles or Ruffles,” “Touchdowns or Tutus," “Footballs or Pom Poms,” Lures (as in fishing) or Lace, “Team Blue or Pink, What Do You Think?” make the child captured in that definite block of gender identity. These parties and celebrations might confuse and trouble confirming sex and gender norms, including intersex, trans, and non-binary kids because it makes their battle to be recognised in their genders even greater. These parties reflect the pressure to be that kind of masculine man or a feminine woman because they won’t be seen as who they are and what their likes are, but they will be seen with that gender associated with a kid at birth and the expectations society has of that kid. Anything else will be out of the blue for society and won’t be acceptable.
According to the Pew Research Centre, one in five American adults says they know someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns, while another study found that 41 per cent of Gen-Z respondents identified as gender-neutral. It’s not the fact that this is a new thing among us, the Gen-Z but it got the recognition required in this generation whereas it was suppressed in previous times.
In Dr Meg-John Barker’s words who is a psychologist and author who specialises in the subject of gender, “It's important that schools and families move towards raising human beings who have all the choices available to them, rather than restricting their future possibilities, and mental health, with rigid gender stereotypes.”
Any possible alternatives that won’t give a bad impression?
Those who simply wish to celebrate their child's arrival can have an 'I'm pregnant' reveal, a name reveals, a zodiac sign reveals, or a 'chosen family' gathering, as one online parenting resource suggests. You could also just have a regular baby shower.
Important Fact
Around five countries have already banned the use of gender determination technologies, including Australia, Canada, China, India, and the UK. Although these methods have been banned, older methods of gender determination - ultrasound or amniocentesis combined with abortion, and infanticide - continue to be practised worldwide, especially in some Asian nations.
Research Coordinator - Abhyudaya Sharma
Editor - Priyam Kusundal
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