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Explosions gone fatally wrong -

A father-to-be in Liberty, New York was assembling a device for his child's gender-reveal party in February 2021 when it exploded, killing him instantly, according to police.

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Explosions gone fatally wrong -

Another man from Michigan was killed in early February 2021 after he was struck by shrapnel from "a small cannon type device" used to announced the gender during a baby shower, according to the BBC.

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Explosions gone fatally wrong -

In October 2019, a family in Iowa experimented with different explosive materials to create a device that would release pink or blue power, but during the reveal party the device exploded like a pipe bomb and sent pieces of metal flying through the air, the BBC reports.

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Explosions gone fatally wrong -

A piece of shrapnel struck the unborn baby’s 56-year-old grandmother in the head, who was standing 45 feet (14 m) away. It killed her instantly.

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Sparking a massive wildfire in Arizona -

In April 2017, Dennis Dickey planned to fire a gun at a target, which would explode with either pink or blue powder during a party at his home. But the target contained the explosive Tannerite, and the explosion ended up sparking a 47,000-acre wildfire that raged for a week.

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Sparking a massive wildfire in Arizona -

The flames spread to the Coronado National Forest. Now known as the Sawmill Fire, it took 800 firefighters and US$8 million to tackle the blaze, which forced hundreds of people from their homes, the BBC reports.

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A lifelong fine -

In court, Dickey pled guilty to a misdemeanor violation of US Forest Service regulations. He was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to pay over US$8 million in restitution.

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Bashing mom-to-be with a bat -

In 2020, a gender-reveal video went viral as the dad-to-be wound up to strike a baseball filled with blue powder. He hit the ball head-on, but his swing went too far to his left and bashed the mom-to-be on her head. Fortunately she is okay.

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Sparking a massive California wildfire -

A gender-reveal party in Yucaipa, California used a "smoke-generating pyrotechnic device" to blast the news, but ended up sparking massive wildfires in September 2020.

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Sparking a massive California wildfire -

The El Dorado Fire, as it is called, burned more than 20,000 acres of land, destroyed houses, forced hundreds to flee their homes, and caused at least 25 fatalities, including firefighters.

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Causing a minor earthquake -

In 2019, a gender-reveal party in Waukee, Iowa set off an explosion so strong that the blast was felt some 2 miles (about 3 km) away. Even crazier is that the parents-to-be used a commercially-available Tannerite gender-reveal boom box kit and merely followed the instructions: fire a rifle at an explosive powder-filled tub.

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Sexism backlash -

In 2020, a father-to-be walked out of a gender-reveal party after seeing they were expecting a girl, and social media users slammed him for being a “ridiculous sexist,” reports 7News. He then said he wanted a boy to “toss a ball around with him and coach little league,” and added, “I’ve already started to deal with the dramas of being a father of a girl and the thought of having to double up now on the neuroticism was harrowing,” which didn’t help.

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...and rehashing family trauma -

The situation was made worse by the fact that his wife and sister-in-law had experienced their own father leaving when they were young. “I start getting texts from my sister in law and my wife saying ‘way to reenact’ their dad leaving their mom when they were 10 and 12,” he said.

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Plane crash -

In September 2019, an elaborate gender reveal caused a plane to crash after the low-flying pilot released 350 gallons (about 1,325 liters) of pink water. The stunt caused the plane to slow down and get “aerodynamically stalled,” according to the New York Post, and the plane crashed into the ground and flipped over. Fortunately the two people on board suffered only minor injuries.

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Animal welfare concerns -

Mike Kliebert, who runs an alligator farm, put a watermelon into his pet alligator's mouth as his family gathered around, and when its jaws snapped, the fruit exploded with blue jelly. The video went viral, but also provoked concerns on Twitter over the animal's welfare, calling the actions "hideous" and "cruel.”

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Animal welfare (and public ridicule) concerns -

There was a similar gender reveal with Texas couple Bridgette and Jonathan Joseph in 2019, using a hippo. Though, instead of the hippo, most people were concerned about the style of the reveal. "I did it," tweeted filmmaker Ana Bretón along with the video. "I found the worst gender reveal."

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Exploding car -

In April 2018, an Australian gender-reveal “burnout”—which is when a car emits billowing clouds of pink or blue smoke—went disastrously wrong when the vehicle burst into flames, going from blue smoke to black.

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Exploding car -

Fortunately, no one was hurt. A 29-year-old man was, however, convicted of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, a spokesperson for the Queensland Police Service told CNN.

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Confiscated car -

In April 2019, after one soon-to-be-father’s car released the desired burnout effect, blue smoke billowing into the air on his cul-de-sac, police showed up at his door and confiscated his car. Four people involved were charged and taken to court, Australian news outlet The West reports.

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A broken ankle -

A New Jersey gender reveal in 2018 involved the dad-to-be kicking a football that contained either pink or blue powder. But, when he kicked the ball, he slipped, fell, and fractured his ankle in the process. He reportedly said he didn’t even realize he’d hurt himself because there was pink powder and he’d wanted a boy!

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Air cannon to the groin -

One couple’s gender-reveal video went viral after the expectant parents launched air cannons, but the father-to-be’s backfired and shot him right in his baby-maker.

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Firework frenzy -

Fireworks went spraying everywhere at a gender-reveal party in Philadelphia in 2018, sending partygoers screaming and running for their lives. A few adults were hit, but there were no serious injuries.

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Psychological dangers -

Beyond their physical and environmental dangers, gender-reveal parties are often criticized for the damage extended to children who perhaps may not feel that they fit into their given gender.

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Even the originator of the trend has doubts -

Jenna Karvunidis is credited with inventing gender-reveal parties ever since 2008 when she put pink icing inside a cake to reveal she was expecting a girl and shared it on her blog. In 2020, she said her thoughts had changed in an article in The Guardian: "I started the 'gender reveal party' trend. And I regret it."

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Gender is more complex than pink or blue - The daughter that Karvunidis had revealed with the color pink now prefers suits and short haircuts, Karvunidis shared in a post. She wrote that the trend sparked “more emphasis on gender than has ever been necessary for a baby.”

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“Who cares what gender the baby is?” -

Karvunidis continued in her post, “I did at the time because we didn't live in 2019 and didn't know what we know now–that assigning focus on gender at birth leaves out so much of their potential and talents that have nothing to do with what's between their legs.”

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Reinforcing harmful stereotypes -

Those actively against gender reveals argue that they enforce gender stereotypes and instill harmful beliefs in children. Karvunidis added, "There’s such an obsession with gender that it becomes limiting in many ways and exploitative in others. You don’t want what’s between your legs to guide your path in life."

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It's not a time-honored tradition -

Though gender-reveal party supplies have seen a huge retail increase due to social media, these parties are not what is expected of soon-to-be-parents, so no one should feel pressured to participate.

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Normalizing the mystery -

Many people are refraining from any talk about the sex of their child at all, including Karvunidis, who said, "I want my kids to grow up in a world where gender doesn’t matter." But if you do wish to broadcast the genitalia of your unborn child, just make sure it’s not using any explosives!

Sources: (BBC) (New York Post) (BBC) (CNN) (BBC) (The West) (PinkNews) (Cafe Mom) (CBS) (7News) (The Guardian)

See also: Horror stories from Disney parks

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