Apple Launches Non-Binary Emojis

In iOS 13.2, Apple announced it would include gender non-binary emojis featuring individuals with neutral colored shirts, hair and professions. 

These emoji-people aim to help those who identify as gender non-binary express themselves in a way closer to how they identify, rather than constrain them with the standard purple and blue clothing and short or long hair typical of emojis.

The gender binary is the social construct of gender that classifies people as either male or female, even when they don’t fit neatly into either. 

Society has begun to accept transgender individuals, or those who don’t identify with the gender they were assigned with at birth — however, are even more reluctant to accept non-binary individuals, who identify as a mix of genders or don’t belong to one at all, despite what they were at birth, according to CNN.

Gen Zers have begun to use emojis as a mainstream form of communication — and tapping into the issue of gender acceptance is a big step in societal reform.

Throughout the years, Apple has made strides to become more inclusive through its emojis, with the inclusion of same-sex couples and those with disabilities. 

Despite the ever-increasing amount of emojis, with a total of 3,178 in iOS 12.1, Apple has made yet another push for more inclusivity — this time with gender identity.

For many millennials, parents will ‘enforce’ their gender upon them after birth - through standard-colored baby clothes and assumed pronouns. However, due to the growing understanding that your physical gender doesn’t always match your actual gender, more Gen-Zers have become open to the idea of identifying as non-binary. 

According to a study done by JWI intelligence, approximately 56 percent of Gen Zers in the United States knows someone who uses gender pronouns such as ‘they’ or ‘ze’. With the growing number of Gen Zers that identify as non-binary, these emojis allow them an outlet to express themselves in the way that everyone else already could.

Gender non-binary people face horrific challenges like discrimination and hate each day, and they should be able to represent themselves to their friends through light-hearted icons without the fear of underrepresentation. Especially with Gen Z’s increased rejection of the gender binary and acceptance of non-conforming individuals, their frequent use of emojis leads to the

representation of all people as the next logical step. 

These emojis will hopefully make gender non-binary people feel more included and normalize their identity, which I commend Apple for doing.