Gender reveals have a way of going spectacularly awry. Last weekend, for example, proud parents-to-be blew up a bunch of explosives to announce the sex of their coming baby, igniting a ten-acre blaze in Florida — a small-scale repeat of a 2017 gender reveal that ended in a 47,000-acre wildfire. Elsewhere, these ostensibly benign celebrations have resulted in plane crashes and even death. Given the gender reveal’s high potential for devastation, it is somewhat comforting to be reminded that this particular brand of party can be accomplished without casualties. For reference, we turn to Katy Perry’s Instagram account, where she posted a victimless baby update on Saturday.
In early March, the royal plant ambassador announced via music video that she and fiancé Orlando Bloom were expecting their first child. (The due date is sometime this summer.) Perry subsequently said she hoped the baby would be a girl, and according to her Instagram, she will get her wish. “It’s a girl,” she captioned a photo of Bloom’s face, smeared in pink frosting.
Bloom looks unbothered by having to wear this snack treat, the best component of any cake, as a mask. Indeed, he looks very happy, but that probably has more to do with the baby than anything else. I, however, am happy and heartened to see a gender reveal go off without a fiery blast. In these preternaturally anxious times, I simply cannot take the added stress of surprise explosions. Better just to say it quietly, with frosting.