The notion of firing a canon and declaring your child’s gender based on whether blue or pink confetti pops out is, honestly, a little archaic. But that hasn’t stopped gender reveal parties from becoming a major industry.
Recent estimates suggest that the average gender reveal party costs between $100 and $200 now, but some parents make it a huge affair, spending over $1,000. These parties have been increasing in popularity since the mid-2010s and are often traced back to one 2008 event hosted by a mom who now regrets ever having one.
The mom credited with ‘inventing’ the gender reveal party now thinks they’re ‘cringey’ and should be ‘canceled.’
When Jenna Karvunidis and her husband Niko documented their gender reveal party for their first baby back in 2008, they had no idea how quickly their creative idea would spread. TODAY Parents reported that the couple was particularly excited after suffering several pregnancy losses, so they wanted to document every moment of their journey, including finding out what the baby’s gender was.
Srdjan Randjelovic | Shutterstock
Karvunidis didn’t really think anything of the party she put together for loved ones at the time. “I’m the type to bake a cake for every occasion. We like to party!” she said. “I had absolutely no thoughts in 2008 of the greater implications of gender reveal parties.”
As a blogger, Karvunidis decided to share pictures of the cake she made online, and the phenomenon of gender reveal parties took off from there. She was featured in The Bump magazine, which made the idea even more popular.
Now, 18 years and two children later, Karvunidis admitted that she regrets starting the trend and never expected it to be taken to such extreme levels.
“Gender reveal parties are canceled,” she said bluntly. “I cringe when I see them now. The insane levels people are taking them just to celebrate one of the most mundane facts about their child is just bizarre.”
She shared some further thoughts in a Facebook post and begged parents to end their obsessive focus on the genders of their own children. “I’ve felt a lot of mixed feelings about my random contribution to the culture. It just exploded into crazy after that,” she wrote. “Literally — guns firing, forest fires, more emphasis on gender than has ever been necessary for a baby.”
Alexander Mass | Pexels
“Who cares what gender the baby is?” she continued. “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.”
Jenna proved her point by noting that the gender reveal party she held all those years ago was for her baby girl, who now wears suits, debunking the traditional beliefs about boys and girls that may not hold true in the future.
Not only have gender reveal parties gotten out of hand, but they have also become environmentally threatening.
Some expectant parents incorporate dangerous ideas into revealing their baby’s gender, including guns and flammable devices. In September 2020, a California couple used a smoke bomb during their gender reveal party that resulted in a serious wildfire. 23,000 acres of land went up in flames, and a firefighter lost his life in the aftermath.
After the devastating incident that led to criminal charges for the parents, Karvunidis took to Facebook again to ask parents to stop the gender reveal party insanity for good. “Stop it,” she insisted. “Stop having these stupid parties … No one cares but you.”
Now, she’s encouraging soon-to-be parents to celebrate other aspects of their future children and put less emphasis on their gender. “Let children be,” she urged. “Let them explore. The gender norms have become so rigid and narrow, it’s a wonder anyone can breathe. We can’t reduce kids to ‘guns or glitter,’ so let’s stop.”
Megan Quinn is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.
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