A gender reveal party is basically a celebration held during pregnancy to reveal the sex of the baby to family and friends. Most times it is a surprise for the parents as well. The primary goal of this party is to “reveal” the baby’s sex. The colour of the cake is used to reveal the gender: blue for a boy and pink for a girl. The practice originated in the United States during the late 2000s.
How gender reveal is done?
The parents plan an ultrasound with their doctor but instead of the doctor revealing the gender out loud to the parents, he or she will write the gender on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope. Later, the parents will hand over the envelope to a close friend or family member who will be planning the party.
People at times confuse gender reveal parties with baby showers but there’s a fine line
Baby showers are usually six to eight weeks before the expected date of delivery, but a gender reveal party typically happens after you're able to discover the biological gender of your baby.
The Flip Side:
In India, it is common for families to prefer raising boys. The typical belief regarding the preference is that sons take care of the family while daughters leave the family after marriage. As per cultural norms, boys are viewed as an ‘asset’, while girls are viewed as ‘expensive’ because of the dowry system and lack of financial return in the future. Sex determination has caused the child-sex ratio to go down at higher rates. Pre-natal sex determination has been illegal since 1994. The government banned the determination of a fetus under the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Regulation and Prevention of Misuse Act of 1994 which was amended in 2002. This was done to check an alarming decline in the number of girls born for every 1000 boys born in the country.
As gender reveals have gotten more prodigal, they have also gotten more dangerous. Gender reveal parties need to stop because they keep alive the gender stereotypes before a baby is even born. People have criticised gender reveals for not only being dangerous but also being harmful to trans youth. Because sex has nothing to do with what someone's gender identity will be going to be. Gender reveal only serves to trigger femininity and masculinity and could make transsexual kids even more uncomfortable.
Perhaps it is a practice best left out to the West!
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