More Gender Diverse Emoji Are On Their Way—Including a Betty Boop Emoji
Remember Google’s proposal to include more depictions of working professionals in the world of emoji, including depictions of femme-presenting emoji in a variety of careers? Last June, it seemed as though the proposal didn’t get accepted, since it didn’t appear on Unicode’s list of new emoji. However, according to a post from Google’s blog today, the emoji have been accepted at last!
The Unicode Emoji Subcommittee plans to add 11 new emojis depicting different professions, including both short-haired and long-haired versions with lots of different skin-tones, as reflected in the animated gif up top. Between all the different permutations, that’ll add up to more than 100 different emojis to select. I like the gal typing on a computer the best, because that’s my job, but there are a lot of great options available. (Speaking of jobs, being a part of an official “Emoji Subcommittee” sounds pretty fun, eh? Do they have their own emoji? Is it just a classic smiley face?)
Several other emojis will also be receiving some more diversity as well. For example, the exercising emojis (e.g. the runner, the swimmer, the weightlifter, the surfer, the biker) will have some femme options accompanying this new update. There will also be some long-haired iterations of the haircut emoji, as well as short-haired versions of the crossed-arms emoji and the hand-flipping emoji. Plus there are new versions of the detective, the cop, and the soldier:
This is all pretty dang cool. But wait. THERE’S MORE!
Betty Boop is getting her own emoji, thanks to a partnership with Pepsi, in association with “World Emoji Day,” a totally-real holiday (!?) that happened yesterday. Yeah. (Oh, and I should probably also disclose that Pepsi sent a Betty Boop emoji-themed can of soda to the office.) Why Ms. Boop making a comeback now? I don’t know, but given that the character had her first heyday in the Great Depression, I guess she’s about due for a reprise given our trying economic times. Nothing like a Betty Boop emoji to soften the impact of capitalism, right?
Anyway, I’m actually pretty psyched about the new emoji additions, because they are adorable. I can’t stay cynical about something that I know I’m going to use every single day. Can’t wait to see these things show up on my phone!
(via Tech Crunch, image via Google)
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