Gender reveals and the parties that come with them have recently become the social norm for expecting parents who wish for a more creative way to tell their friends and family the biological sex of their future child. The epitome of these parties is the ultimate reveal: couples find a creative way to publicly show the color blue or pink to represent a boy or girl. These reveals can include anything from cutting a cake that has pink on the inside to popping a balloon that will rain down blue confetti.
Although the concept seems sweet in retrospect and has been largely popularized on social media by people posting videos of their gender reveals, these parties aren't as cute as you may think they are.
The truth is that gender reveal parties are problematic in the gender stereotypes that they reinforce.
One of the first reasons gender reveal parties are an issue is in the name itself. Gender is defined as "the social and cultural role of each sex within a given society," usually expressed through the words feminine and masculine. Gender deals with personal identity and is not based on biological sex.
Sex, on the other hand, is defined as "the biological differences between males and females, such as the genitalia and genetic differences." So, you're technically not having a gender reveal. Instead, you're hosting a sex reveal party. Changing the language can truly change the entire meaning.
Another issue with gender reveals is the emphasis on femininity being associated with biological females and masculinity being connected to biological males. Just because the sex of your future child is male does not mean he will favor the color blue, want to play video games, and act headstrong. Similarly, giving birth to a female does not mean that you should dress her only in pink frills, little bows, and glitter.
Despite these facts, gender reveal parties thrive off of pink meaning female and blue meaning male, people discussing how your little girl will be so sweet, and family members snickering because your son will be a handful. Seeing gender as black and white instead of as a spectrum is what allows social issues with gender to continue to be present in our society. Gender reveal parties are living proof that we shove males and females into gender boxes before they are even born.
Finally, gender reveals are a problem because they leave no wiggle room for those who do not fit into the rigid definition of boy or girl. One in every 1,500 people are born with some form of Disorder of Sex Development, where a person's sex is neither completely male or female. Gender reveal parties also fail to consider the transgender population.
So next time you goggle over an adorable video of a gender reveal on YouTube or search Pinterest for cute gender reveal ideas, think about what you're doing. Do you want to celebrate the miracle of life, or do you merely want an excuse to be flashy and push your future child to fit the stereotypes that are expected of them?
