Rayouf Alhumedhi drafts proposal for new options and says not only Muslim women wear a headscarf as it serves as ‘an integral aspect of women’s lives’

Emojis, the smartphone icons which have been called “the world’s fastest growing language”, have been diversifying in recent years. But Rayouf Alhumedhi, a 15-year-old student living in Germany, noticed an important figure was still missing from those available – a woman in a headscarf.



The missing emoji became particularly apparent to Alhumedhi, originally of Saudi Arabia, when she was creating a WhatsApp group chat with friends and they each chose an emoji to identify themselves. “My friends, who don’t wear the headscarf, they found something.” Alhumedhi told the Washington Post. “For me? I had to opt to not use an image of a woman wearing a headscarf. Because there isn’t one.” She wrote in her proposal that she has worn a hijab since she was 13 years old.



Alhumedhi first tried to contact Apple customer service about it, then learned from Mashable that she should write to Unicode Consortium, a not-for-profit organization that standardizes text on computers.

The seven-page proposal was written with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, graphic designer Aphelandra Messer, and journalist Jennifer 8. Lee, who is part of Unicode’s emoji subcommittee, according to her Twitter bio.

There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world according to the Pew Research Center, and many women in the religion choose to wear a headscarf. “With this enormous number of people, not a single space on the keyboard is reserved for them,” the proposal states.

The document highlights that not only Muslim women wear a headscarf and it serves as “an integral aspect of women’s lives” as it makes the case for the emoji’s inclusion.

The authors identified Bitmoji, a service for emojis based on a personal avatar, as one of the only social platforms with an image of a woman in a hijab available. Their proposal includes a design for both a woman and man in headscarves. If approved, Alhumedhi’s emoji would be available in 2017, according to the BBC.

In a Reddit “Ask Me Anything”, Alhumedhi answered questions on the emoji, why she personally wears a hijab and whether she sees it as oppressive. “Might seem baffling, but when I wear the headscarf I actually feel liberated because I’m in control of what I want to cover,” she wrote. “The headscarf allows for people to see past a woman’s beauty and see her for her knowledge.”

Alhumedhi’s draft proposal for the new emoji has gained global attention, from Reddit, Buzzfeed, the BBC and other global news sources. “I didn’t think that this many people from all around the world would be eager to support this proposal,” she wrote.

The current slate of emojis available on smartphones have expanded in recent years. In 2015, Unicode introduced more skin colors for emojis. Google employees had proposed emojis for professional women in the past. Apple’s iOS 10 update, despite some glitches, included some additional gender diversity, including female athletes and professionals, single-parent families and a rainbow flag. Same-sex couples and families became represented as Apple emojis in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

Alhumedhi and her co-authors applauded these new emojis. “However, this does not mean it should stop now. With the amount of difference in this world, we must be represented,” the authors added.

The Guardian has sought comment from Alhumedhi.