Emojipedia/Paramount PicturesWith emojis being pretty much the only way we express ourselves these days, it makes sense that we should have as many as humanely possible up our sleeves for future use.
And despite there being hundreds of potential emojis to use, it remains true that they haven’t necessarily been that inclusive or representative of everyone in the past.
However, it looks like that is set to change with the recent emoji update, which includes people with various disabilities, a gender inclusive couple, and a mix skin tones for people holding hands – as well as a period emoji.
Yep, you heard me right. 2019 might just be the year that menstruation – y’know, that natural thing that happens to most gals every month – can finally be talked openly about, if only in emoji form.
The new emoji is just one of 230 which were revealed earlier this week and will be rolled out this year by Emojipedia.
The red drop of blood will be coming to our iPhones soon after a campaign led by global women’s rights charity Plan International UK received support from more than 55,000 people.
We are thrilled to announce that we are actually getting a #PeriodEmoji!
It is through your support that we can now celebrate that the @unicode have announced that we will get our first ever #PeriodEmoji in March 2019
Find out more here
https://t.co/dKd4WwEShX pic.twitter.com/CdyG5fapAx
— PlanInternational UK (@PlanUK) February 6, 2019
The charity hopes to break down ‘the silence, stigma and taboos surrounding periods’, and believes that the period emoji will help to do just that.
Plan International UK pushed for the emoji after a survey of women aged 18-34 revealed 47 per cent believed a period emoji would make it easier for them to talk about their periods with female friends and partners.
It makes total sense when you think about it; if women feel embarrassed about their period, which the survey found nearly half still do, letting an emoji to do the talking for them is a genius idea.
Lucy Russell, head of girl’s rights and youth at Plan International UK said:
The inclusion of an emoji which can express what 800 million women around the world are experiencing every month is a huge step towards normalising periods and smashing the stigma which surrounds them.
For years we’ve obsessively silenced and euphemised periods. As experts in girls’ rights, we know that this has a negative impact on girls; girls feel embarrassed to talk about their periods, they’re missing out, and they can suffer health implications as a consequence.
An emoji isn’t going to solve this, but it can help change the conversation. Ending the shame around periods begins with talking about it.
Approved in #emoji12: Drop of Blood https://t.co/ulSgmBVbex pic.twitter.com/15Sq9IFdAc
— Emojipedia
(@Emojipedia) February 7, 2019
Although the emoji isn’t likely to stop the stigma surrounding periods overnight, it’s certainly a step in the right direction and I’m 100 per cent behind it. Girl power all the way!
The design was submitted to Unicode by Plan International UK and NHS Blood and Transplant.
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