15 year old Saudi Rayuf Alhumedi started a campaign to
create emojis with headscarves. She stated that she wanted to feel
represented in the Emoji keyboard so many people used. It started
out as an idea, then she got the support of different
people.
Alhumedi who lives in Germany, wanted a representation of
herself and people like her in the emoji section, so she suggested
new emojis to Unicode Consortium, the association developing the
frequently used emoji keyboard.
If accepted, new emojis will be out in 2017.
Rayuf, who read an article about the new emojis representing
different colors and both genders, sent her idea of emojis wearing
headscarves to Unicode.
A Unicode employer who liked the idea, helped Rayuf to make an
official proposal.
"We need to be represented with the amount of diversity, the
amount of difference in this world. Emoji may not seem like a big
deal, but it’s one more way for a lot of people to feel
acknowledged and represented — and that is a good thing" - said
Rayuf.
Reddit started a thread on headscarf emojis, and made it
possible for Reddit users to discuss it with Rayuf.
Some participants liked the idea, but some stated that
headscarves are a tool to repress women.
Rayuf and her team will give the completed proposal to Unicode
in November.