Gender reveal party
[2] It is distinct from, but sometimes combined with, a baby shower, where the primary activity is giving expecting parents gifts for their future child.
[8][2] In 2019, Karvunidis observed an increase in extreme reveal events over the preceding five years, with parents "burning down forests and exploding cars, bringing alligators into the mix".
She expressed regret at having helped start the trend, learning how the LGBT and intersex communities feel, and finally revealing the daughter they announced back in 2008 to be a gender-nonconforming individual who wears suits while still identifying as female.
[6] After the 2020 El Dorado Fire was started by a malfunctioning pyrotechnical device at a gender reveal party, Karvunidis pleaded for people to stop staging such events.
Internet remix culture lends the practice great receptivity toward individual creativity, a factor in their growing popularity.
[1][2] Demographic research shows the most gender reveal parties are done by expecting parents that are middle-class, heterosexual White Americans who are married or partnered.
In addition, due to the low birth rate in South Korea, the parties are perceived somewhat positively and the historical practice of preferring male children has become significantly reduced.
Most commonly, a third party (sometimes called a "gender guardian") is entrusted with the information, and it remains a secret from the parents until the reveal.
Prior to the reveal, party games are common, in which attendees or expecting parents guess or assert the fetal sex.
Other seasonally-related items such as Easter eggs, Jack-o'-lanterns, Christmas presents, or Fourth of July or New Year's fireworks may also be incorporated depending on time of pregnancy.
[1][2] Once these colors are revealed, both the expecting parents and onlookers are made aware of the fetus's sex, typically to great celebration and comment by attendees.
[14][15][16] Furthermore, gender reveal parties rely heavily on the assumption that the child will not be intersex, which occurs in an estimated 1 in 4,500–5,500 births.
