The emoji was developed in Japan in the late 1990s. It took a while to catch on globally. But when it did, it took off with authority. Today, the emoji is a very popular form of communication. Can the emoji be a symbol of inspiration? That’s where emoji girl power comes in.
You see, there are only three four emoji signs. One is a wedding bride. One is a nail polishing. One is a princess wearing a crown. One wears scissors in her hair (sorry, I can’t explain that one). The Google Unicorn Emoji Subcommittee wants to change the emoji tide. They’re introducing emoji that specify women in various careers. These careers include teacher, secretary, business executive, college student, doctor, singer, chef, fashion designer. They new emoji include careers women aren’t often linked to. I’m talking about careers like construction worker, welder, computer technician, farmer, auto mechanic. There will be over 100 new emoji to choose from. The emoji will include all races, colors and ethnicity. Guys, don’t feel left out or discriminated against. The emoji will feature men in various careers. Male emoji will be racially diverse as well. But this new crop of emoji is focused on women. The Unicorn Emoji Subcommittee ?hopes this encourages girls to embrace careers in math, science, and technology.
My question is: What took so long? The original girl emoji are totally stereotypical. Think about it: a princess, a bride and scissors. If racial emoji stereotypes were this blatant, the firestorm would be all over America. This needed to change. The educational statistics are alarming. Among industrialized nations, the US often ranks last in science and math. Among women and minorities, the stats are even worse. Some may ask, “What’s an emoji going to do?” Well, it might wake up a young girl’s imagination. It might tell her she can be something other than a bride or princess. It might give her confidence. It might even improve our education stats. What career emoji would you like to see?