Bloody Brilliant: The Period Emoji is given the Green Light

By Ange McCormack, published 7 February, 2019 on Triple J Hack

There's an emoji for cheese, a badminton racquet, toilet paper, every flag in the world, and at least 10 different cars.

But if you want to talk about your period using an emoji? 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That problem - albeit at the nexus of being very first world and very millennial - will soon be solved, as the Californian company which regulates and manages emojis has agreed to add a period emoji to its ranks. 

It comes after a long campaign by humanitarian organisation Plan International, who are aiming to destigmatise menstruation by including it in our "digital vocabulary". 

Plan International's survey of around 2000 young UK women found that about half believed a period emoji would help them talk about their period with their friends and family. 

Hayley Cull, Plan International's Advocacy Director in Australia, says adding a period emoji is a small but important step in normalising periods. 

"We're thrilled that Plan International's campaign has been successful. 800 million women have their period every month, but we still think of this as something shameful. So we really need to smash the stigma surrounding periods and that starts with talking about it more openly," Hayley told Hack.

"[A period emoji] is part of normalizing the conversation around it. We know that emojis are really part of our vocabulary now, they're part of our digital and emotional vocabulary, and it kind of transcends cultural barriers. 

"So it's just about making it an easier part of everyday conversation."

The emoji, which was approved by Unicode on Thursday, will be a red droplet of blood. 

Plan International had called for a vote on which period emoji design would be used, with an emoji of blood on underwear winning the vote. That design was ultimately knocked back by Unicode in favour of the red droplet.

Not everyone is convinced the period emoji is needed for the advancement of women's rights. 

Hayley Cull says the period emoji is one small victory among others that have recently been welcomed - like the repeal of the tampon tax; Hayley says more work still needs to be done in this space. 

"We've seen some really great initiatives recently - the Victorian Government have said that they'll make sanitary products available for free in state schools, which is great, and we'd love to see that sort of thing happening much more around the country."

The period emoji is expected to hit the emoji keyboard in the next few months. It'll also come as part of an update that will include an emoji for a guide dog, a wheelchair, an ear with a hearing aid, and a sari, among others.