# What’s up with gender reveal parties and fires?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 7, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025 "2020-09-07T12:31:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/1 "2020-09-07T12:31:43Z")
First of all, I don’t understand why a gender reveal party is even a thing.
Second, why is it they seem to be into setting fires?
Another one in the news for setting off a wildfire in California —
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/2 "2020-09-07T12:34:04Z")
> **[A pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party sparked one of the California...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/07/us/california-fire-el-dorado-gender-reveal-trnd/index.html)**
>
> One of the multiple wildfires burning in California, the El Dorado fire, was started during a gender-reveal party, officials said.
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### Author:  [@WitnessMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WitnessMe)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/3 "2020-09-07T12:58:06Z")
Cause 'Merica
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### Author:  [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/4 "2020-09-07T13:26:06Z")
“The parents-to-be are proud to announce that their child’s name will be ‘Blaze.’”
:rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/5 "2020-09-07T13:55:22Z")
I read about this current one and thought: “Wait a minute, didn’t we just have a huge fire caused by a gender reveal party?” I can’t explain why such a party exists. Do they float those candle-in-a-bag balloons? That would be pretty fucking dumb. I didn’t read the link.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/6 "2020-09-07T14:03:02Z")
Because humans like parties, and humans like fires. What more is there to explain?
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/7 "2020-09-07T15:03:34Z")
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XchwE9zVdnw)
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/8 "2020-09-07T15:07:50Z")
Narcissism.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/9 "2020-09-07T15:17:32Z")
My town, and I probably know the idiots in some way. Not only did they throw a party in the middle of a pandemic, they used a “smoke-generating pyrotechnic device” as part of the reveal, which sparked the fire. I can only hoped they are charged with every possible offense in the books, fined in bankruptcy and have their current and pending children seized by CPS because they are obviously too stupid to be in charge of children.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/10 "2020-09-07T15:30:18Z")
I for one have attended many parties at which no one has tried to start a fire, so if there exists such an urge in humans, it doesn’t seem difficult to overcome.
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### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/11 "2020-09-07T15:40:47Z")
The gender reveal parties are stupid, have your baby shower even announce the sex of the baby But the big reveals are imo ridiculous. I got an invite to a baby shower where they announced the ARRIVAL of baby boy. But baby has not yet arrived he’s still in utero, it’s like it’s a given he’s here already and let’s party. Chances are delivery will go down as expected with mom and baby doing fine. I am a little superstitious and like to save the celebrations until after baby arrives safely.
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/12 "2020-09-07T15:47:18Z")
The proud parents-to-be of this child/fire caught their special moment on video in 2017:
> **[Gender reveal party ignites wildfire (2018) | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/11/27/arizona-gender-reveal-wildfire-orig-video.cnn)**
>
> Video shows the moment a border patrol agent's gender reveal party ignited a 47,000-acre wildfire in Arizona.
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/13 "2020-09-07T15:53:42Z")
Holy crap, look at all that dry brush surrounding his explosive device!
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/14 "2020-09-07T16:47:02Z")
> [@chela](#):
>
> But baby has not yet arrived he’s still in utero, it’s like it’s a given he’s here already and let’s party. Chances are delivery will go down as expected with mom and baby doing fine. I am a little superstitious and like to save the celebrations until after baby arrives safely.
I am with you. I don’t mind a standard baby shower - a clutch of women sitting around playing pin the tail on the baby or whatever normal inane games go with carb death bomb snacks and koolade bubbly punch but the whole extravaganza is stupid, save your money for kid stuff please. Wait til the kid pops out and send a card, plz k thx bye
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/15 "2020-09-07T16:49:08Z")
> [@bobot](#):
>
> Holy crap, look at all that dry brush surrounding his explosive device!
Not enough foreplay, I assume.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/16 "2020-09-07T16:50:37Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> > [@bobot](#):
> >
> > Holy crap, look at all that dry brush surrounding his explosive device!
>
> Not enough foreplay, I assume. -
Fire in the hole!
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/17 "2020-09-07T19:08:56Z")
> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> I for one have attended many parties at which no one has tried to start a fire, so if there exists such an urge in humans, it doesn’t seem difficult to overcome.
Fires seem to be a large part of rural parties. I’m lifetime urban / suburban and, in that environment, like you I haven’t seen much fire outside of a BBQ grill.
But for awhile I knew several families who lived a couple counties out into ruralia. _Every_ party they or their pals had came with a large not-really contained fire. Whether or not there was a safe place to have it.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/18 "2020-09-07T20:57:04Z")
> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> First of all, I don’t understand why a gender reveal party is even a thing.
It’s an opportunity to have people give you gifts.
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### Author:  [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/19 "2020-09-07T21:47:20Z")
Just be grateful there’s not such a thing as a conception party.
Or maybe there is.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2020, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-gender-reveal-parties-and-fires/920025/20 "2020-09-07T21:53:47Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> > [@Acsenray](#):
> >
> > First of all, I don’t understand why a gender reveal party is even a thing.
>
> It’s an opportunity to have people give you gifts.
Like a [pink or blue fire extinguisher?](https://www.instructables.com/id/Paint-Her-Fire-Extinguisher-Pink!-or-any-other-co/)
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