The XX Factor

Parents Are Doing Gender Reveals by Firing Rifles at Explosives Packed With Colored Chalk 

From a YouTube video titled “4lbs Tannerite + 15lbs colored chalk = baby gender reveal.”

YouTube

There’s a tweet going around right now captioned “best baby announcement ever” that depicts a couple finding out the gender of their unborn child by firing a rifle at a box that appears to be packed with explosives and powder. (The powder is blue, so they’re having a boy!) Here’s the original Facebook post the images were taken from, which was put up Wednesday by a photographer in Florida: 

A Google search, meanwhile, indicates that the explosives plus firearms gender reveal is actually something of a common practice. Here’s one on YouTube:

(For the nonparents reading this post: You can find out the gender of your fetus via sonogram. Some people like to avert their eyes while this is happening, then have the sonogram technician write down the gender on a piece of paper that the couple can give to a friend or family member who then surprises them via some sort of creative symbol—a pink or blue cake, say—at a “gender reveal” party.)

Per the title of the video above and another one I found, it looks like most of the people who are doing this are preparing their box with Tannerite brand exploding rifle targets and colored chalk.

In my opinion, the only missing from these celebrations is a mylar balloon that says, “Congratulations: You’re having an AMERICAN!”