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Marisa Jones

Professor Granillo

English 103

20 September 2019

The Implications of Gendered Cakes

Why does society place such enthusiasm towards the celebration of a child’s gender?

Rhetorical analysis conjoint with the use of semiotics, the study of signs, of this occasional cake

and subsequent party will explain the effects of gender reveal cakes left on society. Although the

emotional appeal of the “Wheels or Heels” cake is meant to be taken lightly, emotions of anger

and unrest arise. The creator of the cake fails to account for the current ethical thoughts

surrounding gender norms. Additionally, the use of binary feminine and masculine signs and

symbols perpetuate the logical error of the false dilemma fallacy and is viewed as a restriction on

male or female capabilities.

The cake of discussion celebrates a couple on the gender of their upcoming baby. This

cake is single tiered, enveloped in a black zig zag pattern, embellished with blue and pink

buttons, and lastly topped with a stack of car wheels and a pair of women’s heels (Sweet

Mary’s). The decorations placed throughout the cake are childlike in nature. There is text on the

cake that reads “wheels or heels” in a juvenile font (Sweet Mary’s). This occasional cake is art,

and just like any other form of art it leaves an impression on those who view it. The art of cake

will always elicit a plethora of opinions, thoughts, and or discussions.

A gender reveal cake typically draws an audience of the expecting couple, relatives, and

friends. The cake is intended to be viewed lightheartedly within a realm of celebration. The cake

represents the binary genders and culturally their influences within color, behavior, and careers.
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Yet, the dictations of gender are changing and no longer determine a person’s mental talent and

physical capabilities. The concept of the gender reveal cake and party evoke a range of emotions.

The cake “Wheels or Heels” is intended to be a cake that is celebratory. The pathos that

arises from this cake is anger and upset regarding an antiquated view on gender. Pathos is the

creator’s appeal to the emotions and feelings of the intended audience (Hyer 7). In the article

“Gender reveal parties have been widely embraced-reviled", an example of an emotion

experienced with the cake is as follows “...and for those who have fought to break down the rigid

adherence to binary stereotypes, seeing them resurface as a way of categorizing people not yet

born is frankly painful” (King-Miller). The cake’s use of colors and symbols is antiquated, and

the audience begins to judge the creator of the cake. The audience begins to make assumptions,

become unsettled, and form strong opinions on their disagreement with the gender reveal

celebration. The pathos experienced through this multimodal composition leads to the presence

of ethos within this cake.

Ethos lacks in the “Wheels or Heels” cake that the unethical assumption has been made

on a future child (Sweet Mary’s). Ethos refers to the generally accepted views of a group of

people in a community, society, or a nation (Hyer 6). The creator makes an appeal to the

traditionally valued cis gender community consequently excluding the community who view

men and women as equal in opportunities. The colors, blue and pink, and objects, heels and

wheels, display two distinct outcomes for the child’s gender, the assumption being made before

the arrival of the child. The association of colors and object with a person is not a new notion as

mentioned by Rippon, “The extreme gendering of toys as a recent phenomenon has received

much attention. Those of us who had our children in the 1980s and ’90s feel that the marketing

of toys to their children is much more gendered now than it was then” (Rippon). In the totality of
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this evidence the child is not able to make their own decisions as to their likes, dislikes,

preferences on toys and clothing, and future career choice; those choices are predetermined by

the current state of the society. Additionally, the cake presumes that the binary genders conform

to their respective “roles”. These gender roles have been engrained in society, such that females

would wear and or play with heels and males with car wheels. The creator fails to provide logical

evidence showing the reasoning for their ethical claim to the cake. The creator demonstrates their

sexist bias towards the capabilities of the boy and girl gender. The symbols, icons, and text used

throughout the cake culminate to display an illogical assumption.

The false dilemma fallacy is presented within this multimodal composition. In the

Mercury Reader logical fallacies can be described as, “ Logical fallacies can be quite effective

from a manipulative point of view and are frequently used in persuasive texts: however from a

logical and sometimes ethical point of view, they are based on incorrect reasoning and are,

therefore , potentially ineffective” ( Hyer, 11). This fallacy is displayed in the form of only two

options being presented for a child, “wheels or heels,” when more options do exist (Sweet

Mary’s). The cake presents the idea that the child and parents will have to adhere to the society's

current cultural and traditional gender norms. The creator of the cake does not show the audience

logical evidence as to why the objects and colors chosen to define the male and female genders

are steadfast (Hyer 8). In the fields of logic and subsequentially science the colors and symbols

shown have no limitations on gender.

The use semiotics through this cake make clear the impact our culture has had on gender

and the “guidelines” that follow the binary genders. The signers and the signified on this cake

synchronically show the cis gender culture. Firstly, the main visual colors of pink and blue are

signified as girl and boy (Silverman and Rader 14). The implications of the colors are great, they
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dictate the future choices of the unborn child; the arguement is not with the colors blue and pink

but what they “tell.” The signified meaning of the binary gender colors can be explained as,

“Pink has become a cultural signpost or signifier, a code for one particular brand: Being a Girl.

The issue is that this code can also be a ‘gender segregation limiter’, channelling its target

audience (girls) towards an extraordinarily limited and limiting package of expectations, and

additionally excluding the non-target audience (boys)” (Rippon). The child based on their

biological gender must follow the cultural gender norms in fear of rejection from society. The

cake presents a sexual bias using iconography; an object, wheel, for boys and girl, a clothing

item. The composition showcases a strong opinion on the cultural roles and duties of future men

and women. From Rachel Lusso’s article, “Denise M. Bostdorff and Shawna H. Ferris claim that

epideictic rhetoric can achieve the opposite of praising cultural norms and rather “transform

listeners” perceptions of reality” (Lussos, 30). The signs and symbols present could come to

have a different signified in time. The many visual components of this cake demonstrate that

society is ever changing, and the community can work together to inspire change.

The seemingly lighthearted cake “Wheels and Heels” is insensitive and ethically unsound

in its portrayal of gender. The cake evokes inadequacy if the future child can not conform to the

social gender dichotomy (Sweet Marys'). The cake elicits judgement over its insensitivity toward

the male and female potential outcomes in careers and overall life. Ethically, the cake displays an

assumption over what the correct roles of genders are synchronically. Throughout the

multimodal composition the elements of rhetoric are largely overwhelmed by illogical errors.

Finally, the sign and symbols displayed are pretentious in meaning and display constraints for

males and females. The civic potential of this cake is evident, with the possibility to pave the

way for the future people to be equal and have all potentials in life seen for them regardless of
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their gender. The cultural notion of what can and cannot be done because of gender and being

titled as weak, strong, male, female, wife, or husband could be erased.

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Works Cited

Hyer, Maren C. The Mercury Reader. Pearson, 2005, pp. 1-11

Lussos, Rachael. “Have your epideictic rhetoric, and eat it, too.” George Mason University,
April 2018.

Tyson, Louis. Critical Theory Today. Routledge, 2015, pp. 198-209

King-Miller, Lindsay. “Why gender reveal parties have been so widely embraced-and reviled.”
Vox, 31 July 2019, 7:00 a.m. https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/the-
goods/2019/7/31/20708816/gender-reveal-party-social-media-game-pink-blue-fire

Rippon, Gina. “Is “pink for girls and blue for boys” biology or conditioning?” Aeon, 19 August
2019, https://aeon.co/essays/is-pink-for-girls-and-blue-for-boys-biology-or-conditioning

Samuels, Elyse. “How do parents find out the sex of their baby? Exploring the trend of gender-
reveal parties.” The Washington Post, 13 May 2018,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/05/13/how-do-parents-find-out-the-
sex-of-their-baby-today-exploring-the-new-trend-of-gender-reveal-parties/

Silverman, Jonathon and Rader, Dean. The World is a Text. Broadview Press, 2018, 1-39

Sweet Mary’s. “Wheels or Heels”

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