The Gender Reveal Party

Bibliographic Data

ID21830124
AuthorsAstri Jack (University of Victoria, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume11
Issue2
Pages82-93
Publication date2020-04-06
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1920-7298 • E-ISSN: 1920-7298
PublisherUniversity of Victoria Libraries (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.18357/ijcyfs112202019520
OpenAlexW3014131505
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited10

This article explores the popularization of gender reveal parties and considers what they can tell us about current societal expectations around gender, parenthood, and consumption. Gender reveal parties are events in which expectant parents reveal, or even learn, the sex of the child-to-be through a surprise display of something pink or blue, typically using innocuous means such as confetti, balloons, or a coloured cake. However, methods for revealing fetal sex have become increasingly bizarre and dangerous, involving firearms, car fires, and, in at least one case, an alligator. This article examines digital media depictions of gender reveal parties and their aftermath; discusses sexing technologies and diversity in biological sex and gender; looks critically at how capitalism and the White neoliberal state have constructed the gender reveal party as a performative event for parents-to-be; and explores the physical and affective violence done to individuals, families, and the natural environment by gender reveal parties

Aesthetics · Biological sex · Business · Corporate governance · Gender diversity · Performative utterance · Political science · Sociology · Surprise · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology