An Easy Mistake?

[steepholm]

A couple of days ago I passed a shop window advertising "Gender Reveal Fireworks" - a first for me.

For a minute I thought, Wow, haven't we come a long way? When I transitioned, coming out was a scary, nerve-wracking thing, fraught with fears of rejection, anger and hurt. Now, people can invite their friends to celebrate their coming out with a fabulous fireworks party in which they reveal their gender (in as many colours as it takes), proud of themselves and their truth, and confident in the support of those who love them.

Then I remembered I wasn't living in a David Levithan novel. Of course, the fireworks' real purpose was to lock yet-unborn children into a rigid, cisnormative gender binary.

Perhaps they could still be used for the first thing after all, though?

Comments

[larryhammer]

I REALLY like the idea of doing ANYTHING to subvert tools designed to lock in the cisnormative gender binary.

(Gender reveal stuff gives me the creeping heebies, and I ache for any intersex child born to parents who bought into that balderdash.)

[thistleingrey]

I REALLY like the idea of doing ANYTHING to subvert tools designed to lock in the cisnormative gender binary.

This.

[steepholm]

Likewise!

[lilliburlero]

One of the people who popularised the gender reveal tosh has had some second thoughts: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/mom-who-invented-the-gender-reveal-cake-changed-her-mind

[steepholm]

I'm very glad to see it!

[cmcmck]

I saw this latest idiot import from the US and it made me heartsick for all the same reasons. I really thought we were beginning to make progress, but........ :o(

[steepholm]

It cries out for subversion, however!