I’m a millennial who hasn’t had a serious relationship in two years, finds modern romance too often a bankrupt enterprise, believes the world has overpopulation issues, doesn’t plan on or want kids anytime soon (knock on wood), thinks social media encourages humans to treat their lives like theatrical performances, and more. So perhaps take the following sentence with a giant tub of salt. The “Gender Reveal” is super dumb.
The gift of life is beautiful and wonderful, but wanting such applause from learning your child’s gender isn’t. Don’t make us join your cult of joy (or misery) that you’re having a boy.
But I’m clearly in the minority on this one as gender reveal events have only drawn dramatically in competition as a recent VICE article noted. Dads are using their future baby’s designated gender to blow up shit and jump out of planes and build Rude Goldberg contraptions.
And people love them! These videos often rack up more than hundreds thousands of views online, only encouraging future parents to participate in the trend. The most popular fads include Tannerite colored explosions and dads doing burnouts in their classic cars that kick up blue- or pink-colored smoke.
By 2012, the trend had really taken off, with thousands of gender reveals being posted to social media. Today, a search on YouTube brings up more than 620,000 results. Right now, we’re at a point where the growing trend, fueled by YouTube views and Facebook likes, has inspired many expectant parents to really up the ante.
We’ve reached the point where Phantom Fireworks has a special Gender Reveal fireworks section on their website. Everyone is trying to make their gender reveal as dramatic and big as possible.
Who knows where this trend will end up? The VICE writer openly wonders whether these “epic gender reveals” could lead to someone being seriously hurt in the process. It’s very possible and that would be very sad. Because then you might miss snapchatting your child’s every waking second, which we all want to see.
