Connect with execs from The New York Times, TIME, Dotdash Meredith and many more

Emojis are replacing Barbies as the battleground where the fight over the portrayal of women is being waged.
A group of Google employees is pushing for 13 new emojis to be approved with a “goal of highlighting the diversity of women’s careers and empower girls everywhere,” according to their proposal submitted to the Unicode Consortium this week.
“No matter where you look, women are gaining visibility and recognition as never before,” the developers said in a its proposal. “Isn’t it time that emoji also reflect the reality that women play a key role in every walk of life and in every profession?”
As of now, emojis depicting women are overwhelmingly stereotypical: There’s nail painting and hair grooming; there’s flamenco dancing and twin burlesque bunnies. Men, meanwhile, are cops and doctors and athletes, as Always pointed out as part of their “Like a Girl” campaign. Google’s proposal includes doctors, farmers, graduates and professors for both sexes. There’s even a David Bowie tribute emoji.
Making unicode emoji less basic with 13 true-to-life representations of professional women: https://t.co/aSOBFkKMGa pic.twitter.com/BfKMSSXgpg
— Google Design (@GoogleDesign) May 11, 2016
Unicode Consortium is currently mulling which emojis will be allowed in its next batch, due to arrive on people’s phones in mid-2017. However, the Googlers might have an advantage since the Consortium’s president, Mark Davis, is also a Google employee.
More in Marketing

Inside Unilever’s AI beauty marketing assembly line — and its implications for agencies
The CPG giant has created an AI-augmented in-house production system. Could it be a template for others?

Procter & Gamble welcomes new CEO, anticipates reduction in staff in the face of an uncertain economy
The conglomerate’s forecast remains modest as uncertain tariffs and consumer sentiment threaten sales growth in the U.S.

How fashion retailer Pacsun’s viral jeans moment on TikTok is part of its bigger bet on creators
Despite expectations for an uncertain second half of the year, Pacsun’s CEO said she doesn’t expect for “large shifts,” in how the company works with creators.