As part the popular #LikeAGirl campaign, Always released a new video pointing out a huge flaw in the way women are represented through the popular emojis girls use to express emotions and thoughts over text message. According to the video, over a billion are used by girls in text messages a day. The feminine products brand hopes that by calling attention to the female stereotypes ingrained into even small parts of of our culture like texting, girls will become well-informed on ways females are represented in the media. This, Always hopes, will give girls courage to defy the standards society has set for them and “rewrite the rules”.
The campaign video features girls of different ages discussing why they love emojis and which ones are their favorites. Then, Always asks them to take note of the female emojis and how they are represented. As these girls contemplated their answers, they came to the harsh realization that female emojis are depicted far differently from male emojis. One girl remarks,“There are no girls in the profession emojis, unless you count being a bride a profession.” In contrast, girls are usually represented wearing pink, a stereotypically feminine color, and also taking part in social activities using animated arm gestures.
Also, one young girl reports in a somber voice that no girls are featured in any of the sports emojis. From bike riders, to surfers and weight lifters, all of the emoji athletes are male. The omission of female athlete emojis sends a powerful message to females who text with emojis about their place in society.
Viewers may get emotional seeing the look on the young girl’s face when she states flatly that “girls love emojis, but there aren’t enough emojis to say what girls do. That’s just how things are.” Always wants young girls to know that the way emojis are currently representing females is not only unfair but also factually incorrect. Female detectives, doctors and police officers exist, and it is time that the emoji catches up with the modern times by representing females in the same professions that they present males in.
These girls want to see girl emojis that are lifting weights, wrestling, biking, playing the drums and singing, to name a few. Perhaps one teenage girl puts it best when she says that she would like for “girls to grow up knowing that she is capable of everything.”
As puberty can have a wide range of effects on girls’ confidence, minimizing environmental stressors relating to female stereotypes is the key to making puberty an easier experience for girls everywhere.
If you have any ideas for other female emojis you would like to see that you think would more realistically depict women, share them by using #LikeAGirl on social media and be sure to share them with Her Campus American as well. Check out the entire campaign video below and be on the look out for subtle ways that society puts forth limiting messages about the capabilities of women. And remember that you are free to “rewrite the rules” before submitting to gender norms and cultural expectations.