Lack of diversity in emojis

Rosemary

Hello everyone,

Facebook have released 1500 new emoji to reflect the diversity in our society. Only one of these represent disability, the wheelchair symbol. I think this is both lazy and lacking in imagination as we are a very diverse group with many impairment types.

I wrote an article for Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rosemary-frazer-/so-facebook-where-is-my-emoji_b_10278356.html

I would really like to know what you think.

rachelcl

I once overheard two old ladies in a supermarket coffee shop talking about "the Parallel Olympics for people in wheelchairs".

craftyinsomniac

Very well written. It's true we are very under represented anyway. There are poos galore and yet 1 disabled person in a wheelchair.  I'm interested,  what emojis would people choose?? My choice..........mobility scooters one on go slow or just normal and one in a rush with fire spitting out the back!!!!!

Footloose

Hmmm ... This brings back distant memories from the 1980's (following the DD Act) when disability groups began debating the issue of Social Services staff and other health professionals applying 'Labels' to disabled people. Some didn't want to be labelled, others complained they were not asked or had been given the opportunity to say what 'title' they thought should or would be used.
  
Some individuals back then felt the applying of any 'labelling' demeaning, whilst others felt it was empowering, but didn't like the labels being applied. You also had individuals with almost 'Invisible' disabilities, (blind, deaf, neurological diseases etc) taking both sides in this debate, because some did, or didn't want to be 'labelled' ...

I suppose society has moved on a bit since then, but it's probably still a thorny issue with some individuals and groups. Regarding myself, I have SB, and was born in 1949, but in my case it's invisible, and between the mid 70s and 2000 was involved in Phab, which promotes the social integration of people with and without disabilities and until I ended up needing to use a wheelchair, this left me wondering 'what I was'  and which side of the PH or AB 'fence' I should be on, and it was only when I got my wheelchair, that I felt sufficiently disabled for me to consider myself 'entitled' to label myself as 'disabled'!

Yes, there does need to be more, but as to what these would look like, maybe should be designed and decided upon by those they impact upon. Maybe an international competition run by the UN or Red Cross could be set up to deal with this issue, where the disabled, decide which are used? On the other hand, is this suggestion just going too far?

For some strange reason, the phrase 'Can of worms' comes to mind!

Sam.