NEW YORK — In hopes of ushering in a new era of communication about sex, LELO has submitted an application to introduce the first official sex emoji to Unicode, the company behind emojis.
LELO also has launched a petition via Change.org asking the public to rally behind the cause.
“Sexting plays an essential part of 21st-Century sexual communication,” said Zhana Vrangalova, PhD., professor of human sexuality at New York University and sexpert for LELO. “The language it develops and the anticipation it builds for couples across the world greatly contributes to healthy and sustainable romantic relationships. I applaud this campaign from LELO for fighting for global sexual liberation and raising awareness about the increasing censorship surrounding sex.”
The company said it believes that the creation of such an emoji will further break the stigma surrounding the talk of sex online and help more people be more satisfied with their sex life.
A survey conducted by LELO shows that out of almost 10,000 respondents, 76% use emojis when communicating about sex. Those engaging in sexting have to use substitutes, ranging from fruits and vegetables to a rooster or an oyster; 86% of the survey respondents said that they support the creation of the sex emoji, and 54% agree that there should also be an emoji for safe sex and sex toys.
With the pandemic forcing people stay at home, their day-to-day activity made its way online, the company said.
"For the sexual wellness industry, the first lockdown of 2020 completely normalized the discourse on sexual pleasure in the mainstream media. It was proven as a key part of human wellbeing, and the ability to talk about sexuality in every medium is essential for personal wellbeing," LELO CMO Luka Matutinovic said.
“This prompted LELO to submit an official application for the creation of the first official sex emoji. With sex now being a regular feature in the media, it seems that the time has also come to have the sex emoji," noted Matutinovic. "And as an industry leader, we see it as our responsibility to spearhead this cause for the entire industry and general public. We see this emoji's creation as gearing towards free sexual expression on all channels and posting without fear of censorship on social media. Having sex, safe sex, and even sex toy emoji, will therefore be the next milestone in fully liberating the discourse on sex.”
