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October 2012 Moms
Article on Gender Reveal Parties in the New Yorker
"NARCISSISM IN PINK AND BLUE"
(ha!)
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Re: Article on Gender Reveal Parties in the New Yorker
Lol, the author was harsh. I have said before, I think gender reveal parties are a little AW-ish for me but I wouldn't judge someone else for doing it, I'd even participate.I just don't think other people care that much what the sex of your child is.
He was super mean about it though...
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Whoa! I can't believe they take it that way. I guess I can see it but when I look at the Gender Reveals I think about it being a matter of maybe parents want to share that moment with their friends and families. I know you can't fit like 50 people in the ultrasound room with you so maybe this is what you do instead.
I've seen the cute pictures with the balloons and think that's neat but honestly I'd only want to go to one of these gender reveal parties if it was a family member. I am with the author on our society having about a million different parties and things and put a gender reveal in the mix with like 2-3 baby showers it is kinda overkill. I personally wouldn't want to go to a baby shower one weekend and then a gender reveal at another time for the same couple. Once again if they were family or maybe my best friend but that's it. Hope I don't sound to snarky. lol
I completely agree with you. I don't see the harm in having a gender reveal party. If you get invited to one and you don't want to go, don't go. Chances are though, if you get invited to one, it's by a close friend or family member so it may be tempting regardless of your feelings on these parties. I'm personally shocked at the passion people have for their opinions in this matter though! I don't understand why people get so fired up about it.
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yeah I live in NYC too. I can see why a single guy who has never heard of such a thing would have such a reaction.
But there is a HUGE difference between having a party for say, Christmas, and a gender reveal party. One is to celebrate a holiday together. Another is a self-created holiday focused solely on those throwing it.
And, while I doubt I'll ever go to one (seeing as I hadn't heard of it until recently), you CAN say no but think about situations where it would cause WWIII.
I agree with this 100%. I'm having one and I don't feel a bit bad about it. I wanted to with DS before it was trendy, but I didn't. This time I am. I think it'll be fun and I'm only inviting people who are dying to know anyway (family and close friends). I'm feeding them and making it fun. They can come or not. Why not enjoy a party?! I'm calling it a "Sex Party" to add a little humor. :-)
I agree that every extended family member and every single friend you have probably doesnt care like YOU do what the sex of your baby is.
BUT we plan on having one with our immediate families(well DHs family and my mom and little sister). I think its fun, and those people in our lives DO care about if we are having a son or daughter. They are so excited that we are finally expecting that this is a fun way to celebrate the miracle growing inside of me. Plus there is cake. Who doesnt like cake?!
Well you see... there's nothing to do down here in the South, so we just party for any reason!
But seriously, born and raised in the South (almost as South as you can get minus Florida) and I had never heard of these until coming here to The Bump. I think it's cute if you're into that. We may do something small for our parents and my sister's family because they are really the only ones who care. I think the cupcake thing would be cute for my sister's kids, who are super-invested in what we are having. She has two boys and one girl, and my niece really wants another girl in the family (she's 8 years old) and the boys want another boy to outnumber Hannah even more!
I've never heard of a gender reveal party until TB, and now I see it popping up all over. However, none of my friends/family members have done one, and I do not expect it to become a trend with my group. I think it's AW, and not my style whatesover.
People are already coming out of their way for a shower for you/baby, there's no need to make them do something separate just to reveal the sex of the baby.
Now, I'm not saying I don't love a good backyard bbq party. Just don't make it about the 'baby'. Because then I'd feel obligated to bring a gift, which I would be annoyed about.
If I showed up to a backyard bbq, and the couple just announced surprisingly they were having a boy or girl, I'd be thrilled for them. If they had a backyard bbq and made a spectacle out of it, (ie pink or blue balloons coming out of a box, etc), I'd side eye it but get over it b/c they didn't announce it ahead of that it was 'a gender reveal' party. If a couple invited me to a 'gender reveal party', I'd probably have something else to do that day and just show up to the shower.
Call me a brat, that's fine. But honestly, besides maybe your parents, everyone else would be fine finding out the old fashioned way.
hi-five
Right back atcha. We may have to stick together on this, so far it doesn't look like many are as against the idea as you and I are
I'm jumping on the I-agree-with-boots train. Personally, these parties are not my style and I would not host one, but if a close friend invited me to one, I would totally go and be happy about it. Even if it is a little AW-y, it's a huge moment in your friends' life. Just like their college or high school graduation. Sure, you didn't want to sit through 4 tortuous hours just to hear their name and you didn't necessarily give a sh!t that they were graduating, but you went to support your friend. And in the case of gender reveal parties, it's likely that free food and drinks are involved, and you get to see all your friends together in one place.
October 2012 Moms Blog
I disagree. Graduation ceremony or party, no one is really all that stoked that you're graduating except you and maybe your closest friends and family. Just my opinion, maybe other people's friends and families are equally as invested in their schooling as they are. I wasn't really using it as a perfect example, it was the first thing that came to my mind.
As for the baby shower, not everyone gets one of those and gifts are not expected at the gender reveal. If it rubs you the wrong way, it's not an obligation and should you decline the invitation, I doubt anyone would ask why.
I don't mean this to come across as snarky at all. Agree to disagree
October 2012 Moms Blog
I mean, I am not doing anything for my graduation. But for ME getting a graduate degree is a bigger deal than finding out if I am having a girl or a boy.
And maybe a bigger life goal than having a child, but again, that's me.
1) I would never go to a friend's graduation ceremony. I didn't even want to go to my own.
2) Comparing a gender reveal party to a graduation party is not even on the same page. A graduation party is the celebration of an achievement. A baby shower is the celebration of the the mother's first child, also an achievement. What is the gender reveal party a celebration of? The man's sperm deciding which X or Y chormosome to shoot out?
Again, I'm not knocking anyone who has a backyard bbq (and CALLS IT a backyard bbq) and then annouces to their friends that they found out their having a boy/girl. But, I wil just never understand the reasoning behind the 'gender reveal party'. But, to each their own, I guess.
Ahh, good point. Didn't think of it from that angle. I agree with you there.
October 2012 Moms Blog
I'm with you guys on this. We are finding out what we're having, but plan on just doing the good old fashioned "We're having a..." when we see people. I'm not sure if I'll be having a shower for this one, but if we do, I'd rather people come to that. I've never been to a gender reveal party (nor have I heard of anyone I know having one), but I'd probably be busy on that day too. ;-)
You do not automatically "get" a shower. A shower is a gift, something someone chooses to do for you because they care. No one is obligated to throw you one, just like no one is obligated to bring a gift to a gender reveal party.
I realize this, but I think (and I speak for first time moms only) that you're prob gonna get a shower if you're gonna do a gender reveal.
It's funny, I posted this on my FB and my friends have a unanimously "wtf" reaction to the parties.
I agree, but as long as I don't have to go to one, I don't really care if anyone else wants to have one.
Also, I do kind of like some of the ideas about biting into a cupcake and seeing a mystery filling. My parents live all the way across the country, and I've been thinking about contacting a bakery in their city to see if they could deliver something like that to them after I get my ultrasound next week. It seems like a more memorable way to tell someone....
Why not gender reveal AT the shower??? Tell everyone to get you gender neutral things...or tell them to get you whatever and you can exchange stuff if the gender is different.
I read that yesterday and thought the author was a little rough about it.
I do think Reveal parties are little goofy. I have always thought it would be fun to go to one but never thought I would throw one myself.
Well DH thinks they are cool and wants to do one. He is sooo cute when he gets excited about something I caved and now were are having one. Nothing huge. I actually turned it into a rib cook off and for dessert we will cut open the gender cake. So not going all out on pink and blue decor.
Ok THIS is adorable and not at all AW in my book. A perfect way to annouce to your parents who live across country! If they have Skype, see if you can Skype with them when they bite into them so you can see their reactions!
agreed. As is doing a gender reveal at a shower. though I feel like if you're going to announce gender you may want to do it at shower. then it's just a "game" at the shower.
who posted it? New Yorker.
It's a very intellectually-minded publication. It's not People. They actually often have a tremendous sense of humor but they're not going to celebrate sparkly unicorn parties. I think most people outside of the little baby having world would find these parties to be a tad much.
Here's how they typical announcement goes down:
Couple: It's a BOY!
People: Oh yay! Congrats!
or
Couple: It's a GIRL!
People: Oh yay! Congrats!
My point is this: does it make a difference what you're having? People are going to be happy for you either way. Have a party, don't have a party--doesn't change much.
Add me to the list of people who think it's AWish and tacky. It's one thing to reveal to (very) close family in a cutesy way (example: we are telling the Grandmas by giving them pink or blue flowers on Mother's Day, because they are probably the only two people besides us who really give a crap...) but throwing a party just to reveal the sex of your child and inviting 45 of your closest friends and family? AWish to the max. I'd never do it and I really don't think I'd ever attend one.
And to those who will argue that a "gender" (ugh, I hate that word) reveal party is not a gift giving event...most people wouldn't see it that way. If I was invited to a party like that, I'd assume they expected a gift, and I'd feel pressure to bring one. But maybe that's because I've never been to one and I don't know how they typically go down.