Photo: genderrevealcelebrations.com
A pregnancy can be a stressful yet joyous period: you’re torn between anxiety for what’s to come and the sheer joy of knowing you’re about to expand your family. So wanting to celebrate in the biggest way possible with family and friends is completely understandable.
Not so much killing yourself – or others – in the process. Since the ‘90s, gender reveal parties have been all the rage, with expectant parents doing anything from the now-classic cake or balloon reveals, to the more unusual gender reveals like correct-colored burnouts to alligator gender reveals and colored farts (yes, it has been done!). But maybe the time is nigh to put an end to the madness.
A gender reveal party is a tradition more or less knowingly started by blogger Jenna Karvunidis who, back in the day, baked a cake with pink icing because she wanted to surprise her husband and the world with the news that she was having a baby girl. In the years that followed and with increased awareness on the fluidity of gender, Karvunidis has come to regret her part in creating the tradition, but that’s another story for another time.
Today, a gender reveal party involves breaking the news that you’re having a boy or a girl by using blue or pink coloring in whatever you’re using to break the news with. The parents can be the bearers of the news, or a close friend, in which case the parents are just as surprised by it as everyone else.
Car aficionados have also found a way to join in on the fun: they can prepare their cars for a burnout and the smoke generated when they burn rubber can be either blue or pink. There is a myriad of ways to get colored smoke, from the more expensive method of buying special tires with colored dye to the cheaper of buying bags of colored dust that you stick to the tires. When the bags explode, the dust mixes with the smoke, creating the desired effect.
Make no mistake about it, a gender reveal burnout is a sight to be seen (all burnouts usually are). There is something about hearing the roar of the engine and the screeching of the tires, but especially about seeing the thick, billowing, vividly colored smoke that has wide-spread appeal. When parents love their car as they would a member of the family, can you really blame them for wanting to include them in this special moment?
Well, yes. Especially if someone gets hurt or dies during what should be a happy event.
We can blame social media for the way gender reveal burnouts have taken off: the visual appeal of the colored burnout goes hand in hand with the performative aspect of social media. In a way, parents are doing it both for themselves (and their family) and for the world at large. In today’s cultural landscape, if you do something and you’re not able to brag about it on Instagram with a perfect photo, does this still mean that you did it?
With the boost in number of gender reveal burnouts has come an increase in the number of incidents, all of them highlighted by authorities as a means to discourage the phenomenon. Several cars caught fire and more than once came close to hitting the people who’d come to see the big reveal, because the driver lost control of the vehicle.
There are countless ways in which one such event can go wrong, from the fact that the burnout is performed by an inexperienced driver, to the close quarters where it’s performed, or the way in which viewers hurdle around the car for a better look. With this much smoke and so many people around in a disorganized fashion, a gender reveal burnout is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Then, there’s another aspect to consider: burnouts, whether they’re for fun or for the more honorable purpose of bragging that you’re having a kid, are not exactly legal. A burnout is called breaking traction in Australia and the UK, and it will get you a fine if you do it on a public road. Australian cops are the strictest: do a burnout here and you end up with a fine, points on your license or a suspension, and an impounded vehicle – or you could even spend a few nights behind bars if the incident is considered gross reckless driving with serious potential of endangering others.
In New Zealand, it’s called sustained loss of traction, and it can also earn you a fine if it’s tied to a proved instance of reckless driving. In the U.S., whether you get a fine or not is relative to the officer in charge, but you will definitely not get a handshake if he deems that you came close to running over someone.
If you draw the line, gender reveal burnouts are awesome, but not exactly worth the trouble. If telling the world that you’re having a boy or a girl entails the loss of human life or serious injuries, it’s probably not the best way to do it. Food for thought, you know.
A gender reveal party is a tradition more or less knowingly started by blogger Jenna Karvunidis who, back in the day, baked a cake with pink icing because she wanted to surprise her husband and the world with the news that she was having a baby girl. In the years that followed and with increased awareness on the fluidity of gender, Karvunidis has come to regret her part in creating the tradition, but that’s another story for another time.
Today, a gender reveal party involves breaking the news that you’re having a boy or a girl by using blue or pink coloring in whatever you’re using to break the news with. The parents can be the bearers of the news, or a close friend, in which case the parents are just as surprised by it as everyone else.
Car aficionados have also found a way to join in on the fun: they can prepare their cars for a burnout and the smoke generated when they burn rubber can be either blue or pink. There is a myriad of ways to get colored smoke, from the more expensive method of buying special tires with colored dye to the cheaper of buying bags of colored dust that you stick to the tires. When the bags explode, the dust mixes with the smoke, creating the desired effect.
Make no mistake about it, a gender reveal burnout is a sight to be seen (all burnouts usually are). There is something about hearing the roar of the engine and the screeching of the tires, but especially about seeing the thick, billowing, vividly colored smoke that has wide-spread appeal. When parents love their car as they would a member of the family, can you really blame them for wanting to include them in this special moment?
Well, yes. Especially if someone gets hurt or dies during what should be a happy event.
We can blame social media for the way gender reveal burnouts have taken off: the visual appeal of the colored burnout goes hand in hand with the performative aspect of social media. In a way, parents are doing it both for themselves (and their family) and for the world at large. In today’s cultural landscape, if you do something and you’re not able to brag about it on Instagram with a perfect photo, does this still mean that you did it?
With the boost in number of gender reveal burnouts has come an increase in the number of incidents, all of them highlighted by authorities as a means to discourage the phenomenon. Several cars caught fire and more than once came close to hitting the people who’d come to see the big reveal, because the driver lost control of the vehicle.
There are countless ways in which one such event can go wrong, from the fact that the burnout is performed by an inexperienced driver, to the close quarters where it’s performed, or the way in which viewers hurdle around the car for a better look. With this much smoke and so many people around in a disorganized fashion, a gender reveal burnout is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Then, there’s another aspect to consider: burnouts, whether they’re for fun or for the more honorable purpose of bragging that you’re having a kid, are not exactly legal. A burnout is called breaking traction in Australia and the UK, and it will get you a fine if you do it on a public road. Australian cops are the strictest: do a burnout here and you end up with a fine, points on your license or a suspension, and an impounded vehicle – or you could even spend a few nights behind bars if the incident is considered gross reckless driving with serious potential of endangering others.
In New Zealand, it’s called sustained loss of traction, and it can also earn you a fine if it’s tied to a proved instance of reckless driving. In the U.S., whether you get a fine or not is relative to the officer in charge, but you will definitely not get a handshake if he deems that you came close to running over someone.
If you draw the line, gender reveal burnouts are awesome, but not exactly worth the trouble. If telling the world that you’re having a boy or a girl entails the loss of human life or serious injuries, it’s probably not the best way to do it. Food for thought, you know.
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