With all of the advancements in technology over the past decade, things like the iPhone, the tablet, and the iPad have become more accessible to young children between the ages of 5 and 12. Yes-tablets, iPhones, and iPads are pretty rad! Plus, children can be entertained on them for hours at a time, without their parents having to even lift a finger. Technology is pretty cool, but it can also be dangerous. The thing about the iPhone, the tablet, and the iPad is that they all have access to what we call emojis; and so do most phones nowadays. Those little icons with the kissy face on it can be fun when you’re texting your boyfriend, or the poop emoji can be used when you’re just being silly with your friends. Emojis are all fun and games until you start to realize that they’re actually kind of sexist.

Don’t get me wrong, I love emojis and I use them sometimes, it’s just that there needs to be an equal representation of men and women each doing a valuable, equal amount of work. The female emojis are things like a queen, getting a haircut, raising a hand, having their hair washed, a bride, hands on her head, and dancers. The male emojis are active things such as a male riding a bike, swimming, horseback riding, being a police officer, snowboarding, and surfing. It’s interesting how most of the female emojis are about women getting pampered, and most of the male emojis are about men being active or working. Why is it that all of the active emojis are males? Some of the younger generation of girls might analyze this question and get offended because of it.

There is one emoji that recently came out in September of 2015. It is called “information desk person” and it is of a woman sitting at a desk as an information person. This is the only occupation for women in the emojis. However, for the males there are police officers, and men in business suits. I thought we were passed the point in society when everyone thought that women should have easy, and low risk jobs? Apparently not. We have reached a point in time where more and more “young people” have started to use technology. There is a very high amount of teenage girls about 10-13 years old that have iPhones and use emojis. What if a young girl sees the emojis of the woman sitting at the information desk and thinks that that is all that she can ever be in life? Or, she sees the emojis of women getting pampered and men doing active workouts and she thinks that she’s just supposed to get pampered all day long? No. We need to be teaching young girls and boys that they are equals, and that they can be anything that they want to be, regardless of gender. And that they can participate in whatever hobby they choose, regardless of gender. Feminism needs to be something that people think about in everything that they do.

Now, I know that you probably think I’m crazy for calling something as minor as emojis sexist, but I don’t care. There are still sexist people out there in this world, and I’m not saying that the makers of the emojis are sexist. They probably didn’t even think twice about the emojis being sexist, and that’s okay because as a society we are all still learning how to accept and act on this whole “feminism” deal. I, myself didn’t really know what to think about feminism for a while, until I came to the realization that there is literally no reason why women and men cannot and should not have equal rights. I am 100% a feminist and can say that confidently now. I believe that men and women are equals and that God created us as such. As far as emojis go, I want to see women police officer emojis, a female wrestler, and even a woman hiking Mount Everest in the future.