By Sami Quadri and Holly Bancroft For The Mail On Sunday
Published: 00:19 BST, 12 May 2019 | Updated: 01:00 BST, 12 May 2019
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You might have thought that the emojis phone users send to say how they feel were a bit of fun and not the least controversial.
But even these plain little round faces have caught the attention of the politically correct brigade, and internet giant Google has responded by launching a small army of ‘gender-neutral’ emojis.
Their features and particularly haircuts have been carefully designed to ensure they are seen as neither male nor female.
The gender-neutral faces have been created after accusations of sexism because emojis have usually appeared to be male since they were invented in Japan in 1997.
Among the 53 new icons are several in occupations or situations that are traditionally the reserve of men, such as construction workers and wrestlers
Among the 53 new icons are several in occupations or situations that are traditionally the reserve of men, such as construction workers and wrestlers.
Others would ordinarily be expected to be female, but instead of a mermaid, for example, the emoji is of a ‘merperson’.
Most of the new emojis have mid-length hair that could conventionally be sported by people of either sex.
The new range goes far beyond the original smiley face, and now includes ‘genie’, ‘zombie’, ‘person in steamy room’ and ‘people with bunny ears’.
Google designer Jennifer Daniel told US business magazine Fast Company: ‘Gender is complicated. It is an impossible task to communicate gender in a single image. It’s a construct.’
