Cam and Nie's Gender Reveal Cake Was White, but What Does That Signify?
Their white gender reveal confused them as much as it confused their audience.
Jul. 12 2024, Published 11:09 a.m. ET
If you've ever seen a gender reveal (and if you've been on the internet, you probably have), you know that they really buy into the supposed binary nature of gender. You either get pink or blue, and maybe you also set fire to your house along the way.
If you've been in other corners of the internet, though, you may know that gender is less a binary and more of a spectrum. Given all of that, what does it mean when you cut into your gender reveal cake and the inside is white? That's what TikTok influencers Cam and Nie are trying to figure out following their gender reveal.
Cam and Nie's gender reveal left them wondering what white means.
During a video posted to their TikTok, the two used glasses to cut into a cake that was supposed to reveal their latest baby's sex. Instead, the inside of the cake was white, and they were both confused.
Under different circumstances, a white reveal would most likely mean that the couple doesn't emphasize what gender the baby is born as, understanding that gender assigned at birth isn't always correct.
That's what white often means under these circumstances. In a way, it's like a version of the gender binary that many reveals play into.
Because Cam and Nie were confused, though, this seems like an unlikely explanation unless the person who baked their cake went rogue. Instead, some are speculating that the white inside is some sort of cliffhanger, and that more information will be revealed in a later video.
The rampant speculation has left some wondering if there are actually twins, or if the reveal means that a proposal could be imminent for the couple. The white is ambiguous, and because it's ambiguous, it's hard to say for sure what it's meant to represent for the couple, and it seems like they don't know either. White could mean any number of things, and for now, we don't know which interpretation is the correct one.
Some are wondering if it's just a mistake.
While many have speculated that the white inside of the cake was done intentionally, others have wondered whether this is just another example of a botched gender reveal. It's possible that the couple hired a baker and then that baker forgot to put the relevant food coloring or frosting into the cake, and instead just baked and delivered them a white cake. It's also possible that their order simply got mixed up.
For now, though, Cam and Nie are leaving their loyal viewers in suspense about the meaning of the cake. In theory, it's possible that the white cake was done to de-emphasize gender, but that seems unlikely.
White is not one of the normal colors you expect to see in a gender reveal, and its meaning isn't firmly settled in all circumstances. While gender reveals may be a complicated ritual given the realities of gender, they have nonetheless remained a tradition that many new parents enjoy participating in.