The Gender Reveal Party That Sparked a Fire
Written by Kole Kemple
A few years ago no one could have possibly guessed that the most searched question on Google in September 2020 would be, “What was the gender of the unborn baby that caused the wildfire?” Yes, you heard that right, the unborn baby that caused the wildfire. While the actual unborn child may not have been responsible for the wildfire itself, its two parents, who triggered one of California’s largest wildfires this year due to an accidental smoke bomb incident at their unborn child’s gender reveal party are being held accountable for starting the fire.
The couple, who hosted a gender reveal party in an El Dorado park with their friends and extended family members, used an illegal smoke bomb that not only revealed that their unborn child was a boy, but also sparked the first flame in the now ten thousand acre spread Californian wildfire. With the fire still spreading, and only sixteen percent contained, the couple may be held financially responsible for the millions of dollars of damage the fire has done so far. Apart from the physical damage done to the nature and surrounding areas, the fire has also caused the sky across the West Coast to appear orange, due to worsening air quality conditions, causing many local residents to evacuate.
While the so-called “Gender Reveal Fire” may just seem like another insane event to add to the madness that is already 2020, this is not the first time a gender reveal party has turned deathly. Another gender reveal party back in 2018 also started an Arizona wildfire, and just last year a gender reveal party started a bush fire in Florida. Past gender reveal parties have also resulted in the death of a grandmother and a plane crash. Throughout all this destruction, the debate over whether or not gender reveal parties should be encouraged has received national attention.
Jennifer Karvunidis, the woman who is often credited as the creator of gender reveal parties even agrees that enough is enough. After hearing about the recent gender reveal party disaster, Jennifer took to twitter to say, “Toxic masculinity is literally burning our society. Why can’t men just enjoy a baby party without having to add aggressive energy to it to prove they’re MANLY MEN?”
Since the beginning of gender reveal party disasters, Karvunidis has been very vocal about the dangerous effect they are not only having to the environment, but to society’s idea of gender as a whole. She’s also since explained that having a small get together to slice open a “gender reveal cake,” is a completely harmless thing to do, but explained that making such a big deal of gender by going to such far extents like smoke bombs can be dangerous, not only for the party’s surroundings, bu for people who don’t fit into traditional gender norms.
Karvunidis has even shared that the child she had her first gender reveal party for, that started the gender reveal craze, does not even fit into typical gender norms herself. While her child still identifies with her biological sex, she dresses in clothing usually worn by boys and acts more like society’s idea of a boy than a girl.
All in all, Karvunidis says that it’s up to the individual couple to decide whether or not they should have a gender reveal party, but that no one should place such a big deal about gender to the extent where it has the potential to spark a disaster.