Emojis: digital flyers of neoliberal feminism

Emojis are digital icons incorporated into almost all digital devices and platforms for online text-based interactions. They represent facial expressions, body gestures, different characters, ideas, concepts, and more. This paper scrutinizes the portrayal of female characters in emojis, suggesting that they accord with the principles of “neoliberal feminism.” Neoliberal feminism is a socio-political and economic approach to feminism that emphasizes individual empowerment and market-driven solutions to gender inequality, often critiqued for its potential to prioritize the interests of privileged women while neglecting systemic issues. Neoliberal feminism is closely linked to middle-classness, which is the axis of identity representation in emoji images. The set has been widely described as “universal.” Utilizing Foucauldian discourse analysis, this paper posits that emojis’ depiction of female characters follows a narrow approach. On the one hand, the visage of emoji characters implies the collection’s limitedness to the depiction of identities rooted in Western culture. On the other hand, in its incorporation of femininity, the series is confined to the depiction of women of middle-class backgrounds who are the potential ideals under neoliberal feminism. The paper concludes that the emoji set manifests a picture of equality that could be best explained through the notion of “neoliberal feminism.”