Woman who invented gender reveal parties says trend has gone ‘crazy’

One of the pioneers of gender-reveal parties has changed her opinion on the trend, explaining that her own daughter doesn’t subscribe to gender norms. 

In a touching Facebook post that included a photograph of her family, Jenna Karvunidis from Pasadena, California, explained how she became known in parenting blog circles as the person who “invented” the gender-reveal cake ceremony.

In July 2008, Karvunidis baked a cake with pink icing inside to reveal the gender of her daughter to her friends and family, not realising that the concept would develop into a custom celebrated by parents around the world. 

Karvunidis wrote about the party on her personal blog and was also interviewed about it by pregnancy magazine, The Bump.

Now, eleven years later, the mother-of-three has criticised the trend, explaining that her perspective on gender identity has changed.

“I’ve felt a lot of mixed feelings about my random contribution to the culture,” Karvunidis wrote.

“Who cares what gender the baby is? 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 went on to explain that much of the reason for her change of heart was that her oldest daughter, Bianca, had begun to express herself in nonbinary ways.

The 10-year-old, who can be seen in the family portrait wearing a stylish blue suit, taught Karvunidis about the nuances of gender by stating that she felt more comfortable in trousers than in dresses and preferred to wear her hair short.

“PLOT TWIST,” Karvunidis added.

“The world’s first gender-reveal party baby is a girl who wears suits!”

The post, which has since garnered more than 20,000 likes and 8,000 shares, has been inundated with thousands of comments from social media users praising Karvunidis for her her new stance on gender. 

“Thank you so much for having the character and the wherewithal to learn more and share what you’ve learned!” one person commented.

Another wrote: “This is a fascinating twist to this story! Thank you for writing such an inspiring post about it Your family is beautiful.”

A third person added: “Absolutely love this. I love the evolution of thought and feelings related to gender. My heart is full.”

More and more parents are challenging the conforming restrictions of gender norms, including singer Pink who recently revealed she is raising her daughter Willow as gender neutral. 

“We are a very label-less household. Last week Willow told me she is going to marry an African woman. I was like: ‘Great, can you teach me how to make African food?” the star told The Sunday People. 

“And she’s like: ‘Sure mama, and we are going to live with you while our house is getting ready.’

“She joked that her only question to Willow was, “who is paying for this by the way?”