Emoji of pregnant man to be introduced this year following criticism over lack of inclusivity

A pregnant man emoji is set to be introduced later this year.

Per The Guardian, the new emoji has been illustrated by Emojipedia in honor of World Emoji Day on July 17, along with several other highly-requested new variations.

A draft list published by the Unicode Consortium also revealed that a number of other emojis will be given a masculine, feminine, or gender-neutral option as part of a push towards inclusivity...

This update will also include options to represent transgender and non-binary people.

The draft list also includes new emojis such as handshakes between two different skin tones, hands making a heart-shape, and additional faces, such as "peeking eye", "holding back tears" and "salute."

Not only that, but the update will also include a further 20 new icons, including coral, a playground slide, a crutch, an X-ray, as well as an empty battery.

The Guardian reports that chief emoji officer at Emojipedia Jeremy Burge commented on the update by stating that it "will mean that nearly all emojis can have default a gender-neutral option, with [the] choice to use a woman or man where relevant."

Credit: Change.org

These draft icons will first have to go through a comment process before they can be officially given final approval in September. The final decision on which emojis will be rolled out is to be left up to the discretion of individual device manufacturers.

The Guardian reports that the most recent emoji in a software update made in February tweaked the “syringe” emoji to remove the blood in celebration of the Covid vaccine.

The lack of options for male pregnancies in emojis was previously criticized by certain users, and a petition was launched on Change.org by a user going by the handle Koner So-Real aimed at enabling this feature.

This petition's description reads: "As we all know sexism is a big problem. I have found something very very disturbing. THERE ARE ONLY FEMALE PREGNANT EMOJIS. We must change this now.

"This is a very pressing issue that has gone unnoticed until now. Thank you. [sic]"

Featured Image Credit: Alamy/Jeffrey Blackler