Author: Vanessa Friedman / Source: New York Times
The Miss America pageant is not the only establishment rethinking the swimsuit portion of its offering.
The Unicode Consortium — that is, the emoji overlords (or, more officially, the nonprofit organization “devoted to developing, maintaining, and promoting software internationalization standards and data”) — are in the process of deciding whether to allow a very simple pink maillot, or one-piece bathing suit, to join the itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-yellow-polka-dot bikini in the emoji lexicon.
Its point is to offer another, less sexualized, option to users who may not feel that the Barbie-wardrobe two-piece really communicates who they are or what they want to say. Or is the most relevant choice in the current cultural climate.
“I have nothing against bikinis,” said Florie Hutchinson, the 38-year-old independent arts publicist and mother of three (soon to be four) girls, who, along with Jennifer 8. Lee, a former New York Times reporter and the co-founder of Emojination, proposed the maillot addition. “I have worn them. But not every woman or girl wants to wear one, and they should have the ability to make another choice,” Ms. Hutchinson said. “I wanted my girls, when they got old enough to have their own smartphones, to be able to see both, side by side.”
As it happens, she is also the woman who, a year ago, began the process of convincing the Consortium to add a flat shoe emoji to the red stiletto that already existed. Not every woman, it turns out, dreams of teetering around in skyscraper heels.
That proposal became something of a feminist cause célèbre. “I was really surprised,” Ms. Hutchinson said. “I knew it meant something to me but hadn’t expected it to mean so much to so many.
” The shoe was formally adopted earlier this year; it should appear in emoji lexicons everywhere this month or next.Having changed the women’s wardrobe options once, Ms. Hutchinson was ready to do it again. Ms. Lee, who has made it her mission to modernize the emoji vocabulary so that it reflects contemporary culture in an inclusive way, approached her about working together on the bathing…
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