In the middle of this graphic are the new non-gendered Google icons

Google is preparing to do its bit to tackle ‘man-centred culture’ with the introduction of 53 new genderless emojis.

The tech giant is releasing the icons featuring characters who are neither men nor women later this year for its Pixel phones.

So, for instance, Google has released a merperson icon which replaces merman and mermaid. The emoji shows a gender neutral figure with its arms crossed, rather than a fishy bloke with a trident or a lady with a seashell bra covering her breasts.

The vampire emoji has also been edited so it doesn’t have a bowtie but instead is wearing a nice necklace which could be worn by a woman or a slightly spivvy man.


Even green-skinned monsters will be gender neutral too

Google has also worked on the hairstyles of its icons, so they appear to be neither a man nor a woman.



Designer Jennifer Daniel wants to tackle age-old injustices represented by the design of he signs on toilets.

She told Fast Company: ‘That person could be man, woman, anyone, but they had to add a little detail, that dress, and suddenly that person symbol doesn’t mean person anymore; it means man.

‘And that culture means a man-centered culture.’

However, the icons will show up as men and women when received by owners of phones made by other manufacturers, so it’s easy to imagine pain and offence being caused by mistake.