Unicode Consortium accepts Apple’s request; adds 5 new gender diverse professional emojis

Unicode Consortium has accepted Apple's request to add 5 new gender diverse professional emojis.

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Unicode Consortium has accepted Apple’s request to add 5 new gender diverse professional emojis.

Unicode Consortium has accepted Apple’s request to add 5 new gender diverse professional emojis. Jeremy Burge, Editor of Emojipedia confirmed the new emojis will come with Emoji 4.0, which is expected to roll out in November. Apple had proposed astronaut, painter, firefighter, judge and pilot emojis. The professional emojis are available in both male and female versions; and various skin tone options.

Unicode’s Emoji 4.0 will now have a total of 16 professional emojis including those requested by Apple. Apart from astronaut, painter, firefighter, judge and pilot; there’s health worker, farmer, cook, student, singer, teacher, factory worker, technologist, office worker, mechanic, and scientist.

Apple recently announced more than a hundred new and redesigned emojis with iOS 10. The update brings more gender diverse emojis. Apple said it is working with the Unicode Consortium to make sure the popular emoji characters reflect the diversity of people everywhere. The pistol emoji has been replaced by a water gun emoji. Women in diverse roles include a woman detective, athlete, weight lifter, swimmer, surfer and more.

Google had proposed similar gender diverse emojis for better representation of women in the field of health, education, science, technology in May. The request was approved by the Unicode Consortium in July. Following approval, Google unveiled 11 new professional emoji in different skin tones for both men and women. Also, it added female versions of thirty-three of its existing emojis. For example, there’s male or a female swimmer emoji now. According to Google, more than 90 per cent of the online population uses emoji while chatting or commenting, and while the list of emojis is growing, diversity has not been a part of the same.