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Two new emoji – ‘pregnant man’ and a gender neutral ‘pregnant person’ – are among those coming to smartphones later this year, it has been confirmed.
The Unicode Consortium, the central bank of all approved emoji, has officially signed off candidates for the next emoji release, version 14.0.
The pregnant man and pregnant person recognise that ‘pregnancy is possible for some transgender men and non-binary people’, Emojipedia, a voting member of the Unicode Consortium says.
Men get pregnant in both real life and in fiction, Emojipedia claims, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1994 film ‘Junior’.
Guidelines to use the term ‘pregnant person’ instead of ‘pregnant woman’ – as issued by the British Medical Association in 2017, in an attempt to recognise trans and non-binary people – were at the time called ‘an insult to women’.
‘Pregnant man’ and ‘pregnant person’ emoji could also be used as ‘a tongue-in-cheek way to display a food baby, a very full stomach caused by eating a large meal
Now, emoji users have flocked to Twitter to share their displeasure of the new ‘gender inclusive’ emoji.
Twitter user @doggerinos said: ‘I could probably count on one hand the number of people who asked for a pregnant man emoji.
‘I’m not trying to hate on trans people or anything, I’m just wondering who tf is gonna use that?!’
Another user, @libertythot_, called the emoji and everyone who uses it ‘stupid’.
Meanwhile, @ErnstRoets said: ‘Someone told me they’re making an emoji of a pregnant man. I thought it was a joke, only to discover that it really is to be released soon.’
On the other hand, @pibesson said a pregnant man emoji was ‘sorely missing’ and the lack of it until now a ‘gross oversight’ from the Unicode Consortium.
Jane Solomon, Emojipedia’s ‘senior emoji lexicographer’, outlined the new emojis in a blog post entitled ‘Why is there a pregnant man emoji?’
‘The new pregnancy options may be used for representation by trans men, non-binary people, or women with short hair – though, of course, use of these emojis is not limited to these groups,’ she said.
Twitter user @doggerinos said : ‘I could probably count on one hand the number of people who asked for a pregnant man emoji’
ErnstRoets said he though a pregnant man emoji was just a joke. The new pregnancy options may be used for representation by trans men, non-binary people, or women with short hair
‘Men can be pregnant. This applies to the real world (e.g., trans men) and to fictional universes (e.g., Arnold Schwarzenegger in [1994 film] “Junior”.
‘People of any gender can be pregnant too. Now there are emojis to represent this.’
For now, Unicode is keeping the more conventional ‘pregnant woman’ emoji, which has been an emoji since 2016.
From left, Danny Devito, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Emma Thompson appear in the 1994 film ‘Junior’
Emojipedia argues that men get pregnant in both real life and in fiction, citing the film as as example
Solomon also said the two new emoji could potentially be used as ‘a tongue-in-cheek way to display a food baby’, a very full stomach caused by eating a large meal.
‘Currently, emojis only depict people assigned female at birth in a role of pregnancy,’ it said in the proposal at the time.
‘If emojis are designed in a manner to be as inclusive as possible this emoji should present its gender more ambiguously.
‘One’s sex does not dictate the capacity to care for children in the home or work in the market.’
All 37 new additions that make up version 14.0 were originally detailed by Emojipedia prior to World Emoji Day (July 17).
As well as ‘pregnant man’ and ‘pregnant person’, version 14.0 includes new variations of the distinctive circular yellow face – Melting Face, Saluting Face, Dotted Line Face and Face Holding Back Tears.
The ‘version 14.0’ list of new emoji also includes a motorcycle tyre, a slide, a disco ball, a troll with club and several different versions of a royal member wearing a crown, which vary by skin colour.
The list also includes a motorcycle tyre, a slide, a disco ball, a troll with a club, coral, kidney beans and a low battery.
Companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft apply stylised versions of the consortium’s designs to their own operating systems.
No release dates have been confirmed for the emoji on different operating systems, but they will likely be seen on all platforms by June 2022, with early support for some platforms later this year.
‘Designs shown here are Emojipedia Sample Images, just one way in which these emojis might look,’ Emojipedia explains.
From left: Melting Face, Face with Open Eyes and Hand Over Mouth, Face with Peeking Eye, Saluting Face, Dotted Line Face, Face with Diagonal Mouth and Face Holding Back Tears. All are among the emojis approved in September 2021
Emoji 14.0 should be rolled out next year after being approved this month by the Unicode Consortium
‘Actual vendor designs will vary from those released by major vendors, and Emojipedia’s own sample images may also be updated when Emoji 14.0 final is released.’
Emojipedia has all the Emoji 14.0 designs listed with their names on its website, as well as old emojis included in previous instalments.
This includes all emoji for version 13.1, which was finalised in September last year and is now generally available on iOS 14.5, Google Pixel devices and Twitter.
Version 13.1 includes a heart on fire, a face exhaling and a face in the clouds, as well as ‘couples kissing’ and ‘couples with heart’ in more variations of skin tones and genders.
Prior to this, version 13.0 introduced in 2020 added a transgender flag, a gender-neutral alternative to Santa Claus and the famous extinct dodo.
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