News

You Can't Get The New Emojis Just Yet

by Rosie Holden Vacanti Gilroy

Great news: Soon, both male and female emojis will be partaking in sports and professions, and not all families will have two parents. Essentially, emojis will represent the real dynamics of American life. So who and what is going to be included in the new emojis? Well, Apple only released images of 12 new emojis on Monday, but they're pretty exciting. First off, there's a kickass female biker emoji, depicted pumping through some high peaks. There's also a weight-lifting woman doing an impressive squat with a barbell overhead. So how can you get the new emojis?

Well, there's a catch: Apple won't be releasing the full set until "the fall," according to its official press statement. The Monday announcement was simply a developer preview, rather than an all-in look at what's coming. Still, we're officially in August now, so fall isn't far off!

When these emojis do come, female emojis will be able to participate in professions, too. There's a new female construction worker and a female detective included in the Apple emoji update. That's not all: Emoji families have been redesigned as well. Apple unveiled a new emoji depicting a single mom and her child, as well as a single father with two children of his own.

According to BuzzFeed, Apple is doing more than making its new emojis more inclusive by adding women. Although this wasn't included in the emojis that Apple released Monday via its online press room, BuzzFeed reports that Apple has added emojis depicting men being pampered and participating in other activities that used to be seen as feminine. Now, male emojis can also get haircuts and scalp massages.

The emoji update includes even more inclusive symbols — for example, a rainbow flag will be added to the emoji keyboard to symbolize LGBTQ pride. (Additionally, Apple will replace the gun emoji with a water pistol emoji, which seems to be a fitting protest against gun violence.)

Representation matters, and it's exciting to see that Apple is aiming to be more inclusive. As for me, I cannot wait to include the woman weight-lifting emoji in every text ever.