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Gender Reveal Parties What the Hell???

(108 Posts)
MarilynneT33 Fri 07-Oct-22 23:31:01

I've just seen a girl in a local group on FB asking for a hairdresser and a makeup artist for her gender reveal party. I had to Google it as I've never heard of this before and thought it was something to do with LGBT.
I thought baby showers were enough. A couple of relatives had baby showers and ended up with more stuff than was necessary and now people are having these. Has the world gone mad?

Blossoming Fri 07-Oct-22 23:43:58

They’ve been around for a while. Not my cup of tea but there you go smile

B9exchange Fri 07-Oct-22 23:45:25

Something else brought over from the States, like Proms on leaving school and baby showers. Yet another excuse for more rather pointless expenditure IMO, but whatever floats your boat! grin

Doodledog Fri 07-Oct-22 23:49:31

If so-called 'gender' is all about feelings and what you 'know inside', shouldn't these be sex-reveal parties?

Either way, it's not my bag either, but yes, each to her own.

Shinamae Fri 07-Oct-22 23:55:56

Genders of my babies were always revealed when they were born and not a minute before, we liked the complete surprise..
??… And god willing that they were healthy…

Grammaretto Sat 08-Oct-22 00:05:02

Totally agree Shinamae.
How is it an advantage to know the sex beforehand? Unless possibly for medical reasons.
Whatever next?
Puppy or kitten reveal parties?

Witzend Sat 08-Oct-22 00:05:30

Strictly speaking it should be (biological) sex reveal, not gender, but I suppose inviting people to a sex reveal party might have one or two clutching their pearls and wondering what on earth the world was coming to.

MarilynneT33 Sat 08-Oct-22 00:07:04

I'm glad to know that there are others who feel the same as me. As B9exchange says pointless expenditure. I didn't want to know what mine were until they were born either.

Shelflife Sat 08-Oct-22 00:10:17

I agree , ridiculous self indulgent nonsense!! Of course a new baby is a source of delight but a gender reveal is unecessary and pointless.

MarilynneT33 Sat 08-Oct-22 00:13:03

Love your comments Witzend....smile

ElaineI Sat 08-Oct-22 00:13:37

This is nothing new.

Doodledog Sat 08-Oct-22 00:43:41

I can understand the parents wanting to know the sex of their baby, and if they do find out, which pretty much everyone does now, I can understand their telling others - it’s exciting - but a party seems a step too far.

As mentioned earlier, there are often baby showers too, these days, and it all feels a bit much for me. I made quite complex cross-stitch pictures for my sister’s grandbabies, and wasn’t finished them until the births. The kits are expensive and the framing even more so, and that’s without the work that goes into them. The last thing I needed was two more excuses for present-buying before I’d even told the parents-to-be that I was making them, but I didn’t want to turn up empty handed. I think things like this put people on the spot.

SueDonim Sat 08-Oct-22 01:15:27

Nobody’s baby is born with a gender. confused

Apart from that, unless you’ve had a test such as amniocentesis, nothing is set in tablets of stone. A couple I know were expecting a baby girl last Spring. When she arrived, she was most definitely a he! ?‍?‍? ?‍?‍?They had a shed-load of pink clothing and equipment, none of which could be returned as it had all been removed from packaging and washed.

ParlorGames Sat 08-Oct-22 01:22:29

A friend of mine used to make celebration cakes and was often asked to make Gender Reveal Cakes. She felt quite privileged to know the sex of the baby - normally concealed in an envelope - before the parents, but she often wondered what all the fuss was about

Mollygo Sat 08-Oct-22 03:26:08

Not my thing really, but why not if they want to celebrate. I mentioned to a friend who had been to one, that I thought the word ‘gender’ had unpleasant connotations, but she just laughed and said ‘sex-reveal’ sounded worse.

BlueBelle Sat 08-Oct-22 04:00:01

Another American import thats been around a good while another silly unnecessary reason to spend money
As you can see I m not a fan and each year they have to outdo the year before with new ways to show what sex the baby is another American import I dislike intensely
Proms, Childrens Beauty pageants, Hallowean, Stag and hen weekends abroad, baby showers…… I m sure there are more

Hithere Sat 08-Oct-22 04:34:40

To each their own

BlueBelle Sat 08-Oct-22 04:43:52

Blimey that’s not like you Hithere ???

FannyCornforth Sat 08-Oct-22 05:14:44

I think that originally it involved cake. And it was about 15 years ago.

It went something like this.
The person who does the ultra sound (I’ve never had a baby, so forgive me if I get any of this stuff wrong) would put the sex of the baby in a sealed envelope.

You’d then give this to your cake maker and they would ice the cake inside with blue or pink icing.

So both parents would cut the cake, and they and whoever else would find out the baby’s sex together.
I actually think that this is really sweet.

But of course, it’s moved on apace, sometimes with disastrous results, especially in the States.
One gender reveal party started a wild fire; I recently read of one idiot pair poisoning a river with ink; and there is even something involving an alligator that went pear shaped confused

MissAdventure Sat 08-Oct-22 06:25:18

I think the important thing to remember is that most people couldnt give a silent fart what gender someone else's baby is.

paddyann54 Sat 08-Oct-22 06:44:48

Bluebelle Halloween isn't American it started in Scotland and Ireland before America existed and was taken there by us,Of course we didn't do the trick or treat thing ,we all just sang a wee song or recited a poem or danced for out loot ,peanuts an apple and a sweetie usually ,if you were lucky a threepenny bit nowadays a pound .It seems only England didn't celebrate

BigBertha1 Sat 08-Oct-22 06:46:25

I've seen several of these parties in USA TV shows in Netflix...what can one day just more excuses for parties and consumerism. Not for me. I don't think we routinely scan simply to discover the sex do we?

Urmstongran Sat 08-Oct-22 06:51:18

I think everyone would guess by the colour of that icing on the cake Fanny so there’d be no need for a hidden photo!

I saw one on such event on the marina in Málaga a few months ago. Coloured smoke was set off and the extended family (only a small group) squealed with joy at the ‘reveal’.

Urmstongran Sat 08-Oct-22 06:53:56

Apologies FC “ice the cake inside. ? never heard of that before.

FannyCornforth Sat 08-Oct-22 07:12:43

Urmstongran

Apologies FC “ice the cake inside. ? never heard of that before.

Sorry Urms I’ve just explained it very poorly.
Just as I’ve never given birth; I’ve never made a cake.
I mean the creamy, icing stuff between the layers of sponge.
My cake vocabulary is letting me down badly here…