[imagesource: Ringo Chiu/AP]

By now, if you know parents or people who are about to become parents, you’ve probably attended one or two ‘gender reveal parties’.

Despite the name, not one of these parties has successfully revealed the gender of the baby.

That’s because – and I can’t believe I have to say this in 2020 – gender is a social construct.

What you’re effectively doing is revealing the sex of your baby, which is determined by its genitals. The male or female genitals are represented by blue or pink string or balloons and/or projectiles that can be released near, sprayed/shot at, or discovered by the expecting parents.

Alternately, you can do what this American couple did and involve a live alligator in the process, while children roll around on the ground nearby.

#GenitalReveal.

Unfortunately, the trend, which started with a simple cake, has blown up as people compete for viral status on their videos.

Then there are the parties that literally blow up, ending in disaster.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane with The Mercury News:

In September 2019, a crop duster dropped 350 gallons of pink water before it stalled and crashed in front of party guests in Turkey, Texas.

In October 2019, the soon to be gendered baby’s grandmother, Pamela Kreimeyer, died instantly when she was hit in the head by a bit of metal from a homemade pipe bomb.

Finally, in Arizona, in July last year, a gun was shot at a boxlike target, which exploded in a cloud of blue powder, before catching fire and taking out nearly 47 000 acres of forest.

The use of explosives appears to be a common trend which has reemerged in a recent stunt that, once again, resulted in a wildfire.

KRGV reports that on September 5, a couple, accompanied by friends and family, chose El Dorado Park in California to fire off an explosive device that would supposedly spew the characteristic blue or pink smoke.

You can see where this is going.

The couple fired off the device which quickly ignited 1,2-metre high grasses. The wildfire spread, and while firefighters arrived on the scene in record time, it was soon out of control.

Since Saturday, the fire has grown to nearly 10 000 acres, and was only 7% contained as of Monday night. Fire officials are calling it “one of the most dangerous fires” they’ve seen in the area.

Nearby towns have been evacuated, as the fire keeps raging.

Here’s what California’s fire situation looked like yesterday:

The couple could be held liable for the cost of fighting the fire and criminally charged with a misdemeanour or felony counts.

I’ll leave you with a word from Jenna Karvunidis, per The Daily Beast, who started the gender reveal trend 12 years ago by cutting into a cake filled with pink icing and then blogging about it.

“Stop having these stupid parties. For the love of God, stop burning things down to tell everyone about your kid’s penis. No one cares but you,” she wrote.

“It was 116 degrees in Pasadena yesterday and this tool thought it would be smart to light a fire about his kid’s dick. Toxic masculinity is men thinking they need to explode something because simply enjoying a baby party is for sissies.”

She added that she has been getting messages over the fire. “Excuse me for having a cake for my family in 2008. Just because I’m the gEnDeR rEvEaL iNVeNtoR doesn’t mean I think people should burn down their communities.”

You heard it straight from the source.

Stoppit.

[source:mercury&krgv&dailybeast]