A recent crop plane accident tied to a gender reveal party had me wondering, why are gender-reveal parties still a thing? More importantly, why did gender-reveal parties exist in the first place?
The idea of a gender-reveal party seems innocent, but the reality is far too abstract. Traditional baby showers are one thing, but to hold a completely separate event just to reveal the sex of their baby with an expectation of only one of two outcomes is ridiculous.
Companies capitalize on gender-reveal parties by creating merchandise with things like “team blue” and “team pink” printed on it. It is used to sell to pregnant women and their families on the idea that throwing a gender reveal party is a necessity.
Baby showers started as a celebration of life for the mother and the family. I agree a party should be held to emphasize pregnancy as a beautiful process of bringing life into the world.
I believe a gender-reveal party hinders that significance by deciding if the baby will like trucks or princesses determined by popping a black balloon filled with blue or pink confetti, or in a number of ways I’ve seen.
Jenna Karvunidis, the woman who held the first gender reveal party said she had regrets about throwing the party. The baby from the gender-reveal party is now a girl who likes to wear suits and goes outside of the gender norms.
“The idea is as simple as eating cake,” Karvunidis said. “There is no way to have cake to cut into it, to see if the baby is going to like chess, lets just have cake.”
On top of all of this, most of the gender-reveal parties I have seen go wrong. Either the balloon flies away, the father misses the target or worse, a crop plane crashes. It is not worth going to great lengths just to find out something that shouldn’t matter. 
By having people choose between “team boy” or “team girl,” it often leads to family members getting upset if the outcome is not what they wanted it to be. The baby should be celebrated merely for the fact it is joining the family in the world not because of its sex.
I don’t think a gender-reveal party is a necessity. It defeats the purpose of having a child. You are having a baby and that is enough to celebrate, let the baby come into the world without the pressure of living up to the pink or blue powder, confetti or cake.
Shelby Bordes is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.