When we know that a baby is on the way, we are filled with joy and excitement. Right away, we wanted to share the news with our family and friends, so we resorted to various options to announce the pregnancy.
An option that has also gained popularity are the parties to reveal if a boy or a girl is expected, however, in recent years the announcements of the sex of the baby are getting out of hand and more than something nice to share, they have turned into a competition , which has even sometimes had serious consequences.
The sex of the baby and the origin of these ads
Knowing that a baby is on the way, we are filled with questions and doubts about everything that will happen. One of the most exciting questions the couple asks themselves, in addition to what they will call it, is to know if the baby they are expecting will be a boy or a girl .
It is natural that most parents want to know what gender their baby has , because in addition to thinking of possible names, it helps them to imagine what their room will be like, what things they will buy for them, what life will be like once he or she arrives.
For many years, and after the appearance of ultrasounds, we used to reveal the sex of the baby only to family or close friends , during casual conversations or showing an image of these ultrasounds.
However, for just over a decade, publicizing the baby’s gender has become quite an event. But how did all this start and at what point did it transform into something so great?
According to various media and social networks, this madness began with a simple cake 12 years ago , when the maternity blogger Jenna Karvunidis shared on her networks that she had prepared him to surprise her family and discover together if she was expecting a boy or a girl.
However, what began with a detail to share this special family moment, over the years began to get out of control .
The problem with baby sex announcements or gender reveal parties
There is nothing wrong with wanting to tell your family or friends if you are expecting a boy or a girl . In fact, it is one of the questions that most pregnant women are asked, either out of curiosity or because they want to give them a personalized gift.
The problem with advertisements of the sex of the baby, also known as “gender reveal” or “revelation of the sex of the baby”, is that they have ceased to be a detail that was shared in a simple way, to become a competition where each couple tries surpass the previous one.
Jenna herself, who is credited with making the baby’s sex advertisements popular thanks to that cake she made to share with her family, has stated on more than one occasion that these types of advertisements should stop, as they have been out of control.
And with the recent California fire, caused by a couple who made an announcement of the sex of their baby using pyrotechnics in the middle of summer and near some bushes , he returned once more to social networks to ask that they stop making these announcements:
” Oh my God NO, ” Jenna’s post begins. ” The fire that caused them to evacuate parts of California is from a BABY SEX ANNOUNCEMENT. Stop it. Stop having these stupid parties. For God’s sake, stop burning things to tell everyone about your baby’s penis .”
In addition to criticizing those who have turned this moment into an event with serious consequences, she mentions that she has received many hateful messages: ” Excuse me for having made a cake for my family in 2008. Just because I am” the inventor of the sex advertisements of the baby “doesn’t mean I think people should set things on fire in their communities .”
To this day, firefighters continue to work to try to control the fire that started last Saturday , which has forced the evacuation of more than 3,000 residents of nearby counties, in addition to the damage caused by smoke and ash that has traveled thousands of years. kilometers, spreading to neighboring states and crossing the border with Mexico.
But this fire is not the first announcement of the baby’s gender to go wrong . In 2017, something similar happened that ended up burning more than 19,000 hectares in Arizona, causing damages worth eight million dollars, which the responsible family had to pay. Another case happened in Australia in 2018, when a car, which after expelling blue smoke, suddenly exploded in flames).
It is clear that none of the families involved thought that things would end as they did , but it is clear that this is a consequence of the lack of control that advertisements of the baby’s sex currently have.
What began as something simple with a cake, was replaced by a huge balloon filled with confetti, then huge boxes full of balloons that were released into the air, to more elaborate and flashy methods: smoke, pyrotechnics, cars. The bigger the better: a competition to see who makes it more eye-catching .
As a sample, the baby sex ad of an influencer in Dubai, who prepared days in advance “the biggest baby sex ad in history”, and which ended in the pink and blue lighting of the Burj Tower. Khalifa, the tallest in the world.
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Is it necessary so much theater to make the sex of the baby known?
Of course not. Reveal if a clear boy or girl is expected that may be important or relevant, but it is not necessary to make it such a big event Personally, I think that more than sharing a moment with the family, it seems that it is done by competing on social networks.
I became a mother six years ago, when they were already talking about these types of advertisements. All I did was run out of my gynecologist’s office to tell my family, we screamed with excitement, we hugged, we ate together and we were very happy. Would it have been more joyous or meaningful to have a party to reveal whether you were expecting a boy or a girl? I highly doubt it.
It is okay to want to do something special, each family has the freedom to spread the news however they like and I will not be the one to tell them what they can or cannot do. But we must admit that things have gotten out of control and we should ask ourselves if it really makes any sense to do so much theater for the sex of a baby that has not even been born.
Let’s not forget that the important thing about these types of moments is not the size of the party or the advertisement, but the people with whom you share it .
Photos | iStock
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