More inclusive emojis are around the corner
Emoji are a language in and of themselves. We convey emotions, detail stories, and react to news not with the words in the Oxford dictionary but in small graphic images designed by tech giants. The world has come a long way since the simple smiley face depicted through a colon and a closed bracket, and as our attitudes change, so do the emojis to reflect that. A draft list of the newest emojis released by the Unicode Consortium shows a range of new additions, including a pregnant man, multiracial hand gestures, and a disco ball.
🥳 For #WorldEmojiDay which draft emoji candidate are you most looking forward to? 🗳️ Vote now: https://t.co/r13ggFy0gq pic.twitter.com/BaUtTyZgux
— Emojipedia (@Emojipedia) July 15, 2021
Same-sex couples and gender-neutral emojis were among the new additions of inclusive characters added to the global library in 2019. However, there was widespread criticism over the trans emojis being omitted from the inclusive additions.
The addition of the pregnant man relates to trans-men who are still able to give birth. Sky News interviewed Freddy McConnell, a trans man who was misinformed about his own fertility once he began transitioning. He explains that although the UK prides itself on not requiring trans people to be sterilised before transitioning, this misinformation spread by healthcare professionals is essentially de facto sterilisation.
Draft Emoji: Hamsa #WorldEmojiDay https://t.co/ldi0lkk4Hz pic.twitter.com/0yNYT5oyGd
— Emojipedia (@Emojipedia) July 16, 2021
Other additions include a melting face, Face with Peeking Eye, Saluting Face, a lip bite, and what appears to be a troll or ogre.
Unsurprisingly, the comments from online Karen’s who somehow found Twitter are overtly transphobic.
“So messed up,” one writes.
“Let me make this clear, If you are pregnant-you are NOT a man. You can feel like a man or identify as a man, but if you have a vag or get pregnant you are not a man. Those physical attributes belong to solely to women,” writes another.
However, the comments are not all bad, and ally’s out there are calling out idiots as they come. “The middle-ages called. They want their backwards, incorrect opinion back.”
But it all comes down to one simple fact, how does an emoji have any bearing on your life? It doesn’t is the simple answer.
