Quote:
Originally Posted by smitikshah
While browsing the internet I found this: https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2016...ugh-emoji.html
This made me really happy.
This is just one example of "unintentional bias", and a great proposed solution to it!
While I doubt anybody would go "we shouldn't make female emojis representing a construction worker or detective", the end result did end up playing a bit on traditional gender roles. If some of these suggestions are used, we can all take a great step forward towards promoting females in STEM that might not have otherwise joined thinking it's not their place. |
Are those emoji's really male/female, or just long loose hair/short or pulled back hair? What specifically is it about showing a cartoon face with a hat/helmet on and very little hair showing on the sides that makes it a "male" representation? Why, in the new emoji's, are the "male" representations wearing green while the "female" ones are wearing purple?
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against expanding the standard emoji set, but it's important when we look at stuff like this to recognize that, even in efforts to promote gender equality we can still unintentionally put forward gender stereotypes. When we embark on these efforts ourselves, it's important to ask these types of questions.