Although the iOS 15.3 update has not been released for a long time, Apple does not seem to be satisfied with such an update speed. Just a few days ago, Apple launched a brand new iOS 15.4 beta version. Although Xiaolei does not recommend any non-developer upgrade to use any iOS beta version, it has to be mentioned that Apple has indeed added a lot of heavy updates in the iOS 15.4 beta: for example, some iPhone models that use Face ID to unlock can now use Face ID to unlock while wearing masks. ”
But if mask Face ID unlocking is only important in Apple's ecology, then another update in the iOS 15.4 beta is "a very significant impact on all mankind": Apple added "pregnant people" and "pregnant men" to iOS 15.4 beta1.
Yes, in the god-like apple ecology, "male mothers" have a place.
No kidding, although I don't agree with Apple's practice of simply using hairstyles to "distinguish between genders", if we put ourselves into Apple's perspective, in fact, this "male mother" Emoji can also be explained by his own logic:
There is such a situation, called gender identity disorder, which is simply that people's cognition of psychological gender is different from their biological gender, and "physiological male, gender cognition female" or "physiological female, psychological cognitive male" is in this case.
So if there is such a person named "Ago", the biological sex is female but the psychological cognition is male. One day Ah Guo found out that she was pregnant and wanted to express herself with emoji while chatting. But at this time, Ah Guo found that he recognized as a male and should use male emoji, but in iOS, there was no male pregnant emoji to represent himself. In order to express its recognition of Ah Guo's situation, Apple added the emoji expression of the so-called "male mother" in its own iOS system to take care of Ah Guo's emotions.
But then again, why did Apple use the energy not to think about these emojis to make a good gesture of sliding back? The reason is simple, Emoji is not entirely Apple's decision.
Emoji Who has the final say?
Contrary to what many people think, the meaning of each emoji is not determined by the hardware or software brand: the brand can only determine the specific expression of each emoji, such as the pattern design; and the "theme" of each emoji, that is, the meaning expressed by the emoji, is part of the Unicode code.
Because of this, even the same Unicode corresponding to the emoji, such as the familiar "laughing cry" (U+1F602), has different patterns on different hardware or systems.
This "one Unicode table" approach actually has both good and bad. For enterprises that have the strength to "redraw" Emoji, using their own repainted Emoji can not only avoid the copyright problem behind Emoji, but also improve the recognition of their own brand. After all, in most cases, copyright only protects "expression" and does not protect "meaning", which is also what gamers often say: "Plagiarism is not plagiarism, material plagiarism is plagiarism."
Brand identity is better understood, apple's "exclusive emoji" - U+F8FF is the best example. This emoji, which is shared by Apple itself first, has a transcendent status in the eyes of many fruit fans, and some people have used this emoji to create a "real Apple Watch dial".
But from another point of view, this "one Unicocode table" time method also has certain drawbacks. The first is the problem of lag. In simple terms, redrawing takes time, assuming that one day a province is unified, the corresponding flag in the ISO standard has changed, but because redrawing and pushing updates take time, the corresponding flag icon for that province will not change for a period of time.
In addition, this "discretion" also gives some companies the opportunity to "take the rhythm". For example, in order to oppose violence, a brand changed the original Unicode U+1F52B from a former pistol to a water gun. This practice has also been recognized and followed up by Unicode and other brands in the follow-up, which makes "violent child-drama", which cannot reflect the cruelty of war and violence, and has the same effect as modifying the color of blood.
In some cases, this free expression of emoji can cause ambiguity. For example, the famous Emoji "Heshi" (U+1F64F), due to the different drawing methods in different systems, has been derived from the two different meanings of "blessing" and "applause". In case Ah Guo's relatives are hospitalized, you would have wanted to send a prayer expression, but on Ah Guo's mobile phone it looks like you are clapping, which is not a "misunderstanding" that can easily explain.
Users love how to use how to use
Although Emoji has its own definition in Unicode, just like "Heshi", Emoji is nothing more than a carrier of emotions, and the so-called Unicode definition is nothing more than a "guide". The expression is in the hands of the user, and the user loves to express it as much as he wants, after all, no one thought that "dog head" could be derived from the original animal head to appear in such a meaning.
Taking this "male mother" as an example, for Ah Guo, this may be the meaning of the pregnant physiological sex female psychological cognition of men. But for any man with a beer belly, this is clearly their best response against "Bodyshame" (body shaming). They can probably explain this expression to the beer belly on their bodies, anyway, there are usually some people who joke, patting their stomachs and asking, "How many months?" It is better to directly "take advantage of this expression for oneself.".
It is undeniable that focusing on sexual minorities is indeed an effective way for many Western technology companies to "win people's hearts and minds" in the near future. But in my opinion, simply changing hair length and facial features to distinguish between different genders and conflating physiological indicators with psychological cognition is not a means of respecting science for maintaining minorities. Taking Xiao Lei himself as an example, although I think of myself as a male in my physiology and psychology, I also have the habit of growing long hair, and sometimes I will even laugh at myself as a "long-haired male driver".
This is also the reason why I recognize the "yellow jelly" Emoji and Lego villains of the Android system more than Apple's various emojis. The premise of respecting differences is to recognize differences, and the way to make everyone recognize differences is to make differences for all people.
I don't know how many people will adjust the skin color and gender composition of the pair according to the corresponding emoji when using Emoji, but I believe that the vast majority of people will directly use the default yellow emoticon. From this point of view, the relevant enterprises submitted such emojis at the beginning, not so much to respect the sexual minority, but rather to submit a name, using the sexual minority to flaunt themselves and subdivide people indefinitely.
But then again, companies can submit emojis to Unicode, and other companies can choose not to include this Unicode. Considering that most tech companies except Apple do not have much enthusiasm for the update of Emoji, I believe that this "male mother" will be displayed in the form of "tofu blocks" in most cases, which will not cause the situation of "subway old people looking at mobile phones".
In this case, the only people who are really affected by the "backstab" of iOS 15.4 may only be the corresponding sexual minorities, men with beer bellies, and Xiao Lei's colleague who bought the Apple Watch in order to unlock the iPhone.