After last week Google pissed off millions of people when its search engine claimed rather generically that there are only two genders (male and female), the tech giant is now trying to win back the hearts of the public with a new campaign.
In an effort to promote gender equality, Google has been working with the Unicode Technical Committee to add emoji that “empower young girls” and more accurately reflect the “diversity of women’s careers” as well as “the pivotal roles that women play in the world.”
Yesterday the Unicode Committee has approved Google’s proposal to add 11 new “professional emoji” in various skin tones for both men and women, totalling more than 100 new emoji.
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Google also says that Unicode is further working on adding gender alternatives to 33 existing emoji.
The new additions will soon be available on Android and other platforms that support emoji.
While Google certainly deserves admiration for its initiative, chances are it will take a lot more than a few measly emoji to truly achieve gender equality.
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