By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Jenna Karvunidis says parties centering on a child's gender are dangerous and place too much focus on genitalia.
The Los Angeles-area woman believed to have begun the gender reveal party craze has now denounced the practice on social media.
Jenna Karvunidis served a simple pink cake in 2008 to celebrate her child's birth and expected gender -- a child who now subverts typical gender roles. As the gender reveal trend grew, Karvunidis began seeing the reveal parties as less than innocent. Karvunidis, now a mom of three, is wary of the parties not only because many now include pyrotechnics and have sparked wildfires and caused injuries and death, but because of how they box in children and place unnecessary emphasis on gender at birth.
Now, after a gender reveal party caused a destructive wildfire in southern California this weekend, Karvunidis elaborated on her feelings.
"Stop it. Stop having these stupid parties," Karvunidis wrote on Facebook on Sunday. "For the love of God, stop burning things down to tell everyone about your kid's penis. No one cares but you.
"It was 116 degrees in Pasadena yesterday and this tool thought it would be smart to light a fire about his kid's dick. Toxic masculinity is men thinking they need to explode something because simply enjoying a baby party is for sissies."
Karvunidis's family has also experienced firsthand the negative effects of gender stereotyping. Karvunidis's first child, the one the gender reveal cake was for, does not embrace typical female clothing.
"Who cares what gender the baby is?" Karvunidis wrote last year on social media. "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."
Karvunidis said it's not right to dump gender stereotypes -- including the colors pink and blue -- on unborn children whose genitalia may not match their gender identity. Additionally, Karvunidis told Insider that another one of her children, a daughter, recently grew confused and upset when she was gifted with Legos that she believed were a "boy present" since they weren't pink.
