The period emoji will make its way to your smartphones this year.
A tiny drop of blood has led to a ton of reactions on social media. The red drop, which represents menstruation, will make its way to your smartphones this year as an emoji, thanks to UK humanitarian organisation Plan International. The group succeeded in their #PeriodEmoji social media campaign to get the special emoji, reports News.com.au.
The 'period emoji' was approved by Unicode Consortium on Thursday, along with 229 other new emojis - and Twitter is celebrating. The red drop of blood is being seen as a step towards normalising conversations around menstruation and breaking the stigma that surrounds periods.
Here is how Twitter is reacting to the news of upcoming the period emoji:
However, many also felt that an emoji alone would not solve the stigma around periods
Many also pointed out that according to Unicode Consortium, the drop of blood may also be used to signify a "blood donation, bleeding or injury", along with menstruation. Plan International's first design attempt - an image of 'period pants' - was rejected by Unicode Consortium.
"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," Head of Girls Rights at Plan International, Lucy Russell, said.
"For years we've obsessively silenced and euphemised periods... 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."
What do you think of the period emoji? Let us know using the comments section below.
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