Empowering Bytes: Beyond the Emoji
Today, we’re diving into a topic that might seem small but carries a whole lot of weight: emojis! Join Nkechi Nwafor-Robinson, and co-host Gaby Mammone as they explore the colorful world of these little icons we use every day. We’re not just talking about smiley faces and thumbs up; we're digging into the significance of skin tone emojis and why they matter.
From their own experiences to those of their friends, they unpack how emojis are an expression of identity and inclusivity, and whether it’s important to match the emoji color to the person you’re chatting with.
Let's have some fun with decoding the emoji language together!
Have an empowering story to share on an Empowering Bytes episode? Submit your request, for a chance to be a guest.
Find us online: https://linktr.ee/nkechinwaforrobinson
Transcript
Great day, amazing human.
Speaker A:Yes, welcome to Empowered at My Skin podcast where our mission is to help 1 billion people in this world think in more empowering ways.
Speaker A:Empowered humans empower humans.
Speaker A:So you are in the right place to become a lead domino for Empowerment today.
Speaker A:My name is Nkechi Mwaho Robinson.
Speaker A:I'm not only your host, but I am a vibrant optimist obsessed to bring you empowering content with every single episode.
Speaker A:We will bring you weekly content, alternating between longer episodes with featured guests and a shorter episode called Empowering Bites where I will be joined by my co host, Gabby Memone.
Speaker A:So if you're ready, let the show begin.
Speaker A:Great day, amazing humans.
Speaker A:Yes, welcome to the next Empowering Bites episode.
Speaker A:And you know, I'm here with my girl, Gabby Mamonay.
Speaker A:It didn't remind, it didn't, it didn't rhyme as well as.
Speaker B:It's okay.
Speaker B:It's not meant to rhyme, but it still sounded cute nonetheless.
Speaker B:As Mambone.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:So, wow.
Speaker A:Today we are back today talking about something small, I guess in the big scheme of sins, but it actually could also be something big.
Speaker A:And, and Gabby got me excited.
Speaker A:So Gabby, tell us where we're going today.
Speaker B:We're talking about emojis.
Speaker B:Now before you think, what on earth am I going to gain from a podcast about emojis?
Speaker B:We're going to share with you.
Speaker B:And this is, it's interesting because we all use it, right?
Speaker B:We all just communicate, you know, using the heart or the thumbs up and whatever emojis that you use.
Speaker B:But here's the thing, when it comes to skin tones, skin tone emojis, does it matter?
Speaker B:And I'm going to share why in a moment.
Speaker B:What do you think about this?
Speaker A:Doesn't matter.
Speaker A:So I'm going to say, I'm going to say from an inclusive perspective, interestingly enough, yes, I felt it mattered.
Speaker A:And I'll tell you why.
Speaker A:Because before they came up with skin tone emojis, emojis were yellow.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And my, it's, I'm now speaking from a place of, of experience and awareness and you know, having, you know, gone through this and thinking this further.
Speaker A:But I used to feel offended because I, as a, as a black woman or brown dark, I call I'm brown skin, but brown skin woman, there was only the yellow emoji.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:But interestingly enough, when they introduced skin tones, I was so excited.
Speaker A:Like I went in right away and changed it and I remember telling all of my black peeps like, change it, change it.
Speaker A:Like, you know, and I remember like, showing off.
Speaker A:One day I was on a zoom call and I just kept putting thumbs.
Speaker A:Like, I put all the.
Speaker A:I put all the chocolate emojis that I could.
Speaker A:I just used them just in like, hand claps and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker A:And I will be honest with you, probably over the last three or four months, I'm now asking my Caucasian white colleagues why they haven't changed their skin tone.
Speaker A:Because I realized, but wait, they weren't yellow.
Speaker A:They're not yellow, right.
Speaker A:And so it's interesting because a lot of them are like, oh, I didn't really think it was for me.
Speaker A:And I'm like, but yeah, you have skin.
Speaker A:Which.
Speaker A:Which is a whole different topic because a lot of times when we talk about even, even we got.
Speaker A:Sorry, I digress for a minute.
Speaker A:But just to make the point, I remember interviewing this one amazing guest when I asked the question, what does it feel to be empowered in, like, what?
Speaker A:Finish the sentence.
Speaker A:I'm empowered in my skin.
Speaker A:When.
Speaker A:Yeah, and I remember they had to be like, like, you mean like in.
Speaker A:In me?
Speaker A:I'm like, yeah, within your skin.
Speaker A:They're like, like my skin.
Speaker A:And I realized in that moment that they were like, skin to them meant brown skin, you know?
Speaker A:So anyway, I'm happy to like, like you have shared why this.
Speaker A:And I think it's like a great conversation anyway.
Speaker A:But to answer your question, yeah, I do think it's important, but I've event.
Speaker A:I have expanded my thinking to recognize it's not just important for me, it's all humans, because I do believe that those skin tones represent all of us because we were never yellow.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:It was introduced as yellow on text.
Speaker B:WhatsApp, Zoom.
Speaker A:I mean, the faces are still yellow, right?
Speaker A:Like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:The reason why I wanted to bring this up is because of a very specific situation where I was chatting with someone who is South Asian.
Speaker B:She has brown skin.
Speaker B:I am fair skin.
Speaker B:I'm Caucasian.
Speaker B:And we were chatting and she said to me, and I distinctly remember this conversation, that she received a text message from a Caucasian and she was beside herself that that Caucasian person gave her a thumbs up as a white color, a white thumbs up.
Speaker B:She changed it from gold to white.
Speaker B:And I said to the South Asian individual, what is the concern?
Speaker B:And she said, but it should be brown skin.
Speaker B:Because she is giving me a thumbs up, she should change it to brown.
Speaker B:So I challenged her.
Speaker B:I said, so depending on who she responds to, are you suggesting that she should be changing the skin color of each person that she's responding to?
Speaker B:And she said, yes, that's common courtesy.
Speaker B:And I went, well, isn't this interesting that this is a perception of one person?
Speaker B:And so that's when I thought, are we really offending some people by the color that we choose by our thumbs up?
Speaker B:And I thought it was a good discussion to have.
Speaker A:So it's interesting because I remember.
Speaker A:So it's.
Speaker A:So I've had the same kind of thinking, but not, not from that perspective.
Speaker A:And so like a lot of times I am the only in.
Speaker A:In many forums.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so I've like when, you know, sometimes like if there's a chat and then the emojis go.
Speaker A:And I put this.
Speaker A:And people are still either.
Speaker A:Most like the majority of the people in that chat would probably be using the gold.
Speaker A:You use gold.
Speaker A:But yellow emoji, even though they could be using a skin tone emoji.
Speaker A:And sometimes I felt like my thumb just kind of.
Speaker A:What is this?
Speaker A:Stood out like a source.
Speaker A:And I kind of wondered if people like for a moment.
Speaker A:For a moment because I, I actually it took me back to though ink being powdered in your skin.
Speaker A:You're proudly, you know, like represent yourself.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So anyway, so that brings me back to your question, which is interesting because I would never have thought about it from.
Speaker A:I was more.
Speaker A:So might there be an offense that.
Speaker A:Not necessarily that my thumb, like it was more a personal thing.
Speaker A:Like there's my brown thumb and nobody else has a brown thumb.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker A:But it's interesting because I like, I'm giving somebody a thumbs up.
Speaker A:So it is my expression.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:My expression should match my expression of color.
Speaker A:Like I'm representing that thumb.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I don't have an expectation of you to change your color based on you.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I saw that.
Speaker A:That's an interesting.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Dynamic person that I was speaking to had that expectation.
Speaker B:Then that's when I thought, well, isn't this an interesting angle that are we, Are we sometimes offending people by not asking a question?
Speaker A:Changing.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Because my brain is.
Speaker A:I cut you off.
Speaker A:I cut you off.
Speaker A:Because my brain is reeling.
Speaker A:I'm trying to would.
Speaker A:And again, I don't know why my brain just went to.
Speaker A:If I were to go to, let's just say a South Asian event.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I would probably put on South Asian dress.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And I'm again, I'm trying to maybe without, you know, having that person here trying to open up my thinking to where they might be coming from.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:And I'm wondering if it's sort of that same like do like when in the culture, you know, embrace the culture type thing.
Speaker A:But, but it, but, but I, but now I'm still, now I'm challenging that thinking because it goes back to.
Speaker A:But that's like.
Speaker A:I think emojis are a form of self expression, right?
Speaker B:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I, I know that I would not expect somebody, I would think it would actually be weird to receive from, from you a brown.
Speaker A:I would probably ask you why is your.
Speaker A:Why is.
Speaker A:Why.
Speaker A:Why have a brown bone?
Speaker A:Like, like it's interesting.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But I will tell you what I do do and you know, anyone can look at my Instagram.
Speaker B:Sometimes I put posts where I put the I love you sign, the three sides, but I put five heads and each hand is a different color out of respect for all the colors.
Speaker B:Because I love everybody and that from an inclusion perspective, I think that's fine.
Speaker B:But I would, I personally wouldn't be offended if someone gave me a hand color that's not mine because they get to choose and it doesn't bother me at all.
Speaker B:But again, because I had this particular conversation with this individual, I thought to myself, is that the norm or are there many people that look at it from that angle?
Speaker B:And you know, I'm very open and understanding as to where, where is she coming from with this?
Speaker B:So I wanted to open up that conversation.
Speaker B:You know, anyone that's watching or listening to this in the comments, tell us, you know, what are your thoughts on using different colors of emojis?
Speaker B:Hand emojis, you know, high fives, clapping, thumbs up.
Speaker B:Any of those?
Speaker B:I'm curious.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Do you use them to match the person you're speaking to?
Speaker A:Which is interesting because if you're in a.
Speaker A:So here's, here's where I, you know, again, I would probably engage like another conversation.
Speaker A:Like what if you're in a forum and it is multicultural and every time you are commenting, like would you like, would you have to change your emoji to match whoever's speaking?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like that's where I'm thinking.
Speaker A:That's a, that's.
Speaker A:I'd love to get into that mind to really understand it a little bit more because, because obviously their view is less.
Speaker A:It's about self expression.
Speaker A:It's right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Huh.
Speaker B:If I, you know, if I were to look at her point of view, perhaps there's an element there of like shared respect.
Speaker B:Maybe she's feeling like she needed to be.
Speaker B:In order for her to feel respected, someone maybe needed to be mindful of her skin color.
Speaker B:That's highly Possible, then it would be.
Speaker A:Something beyond the emoji.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:The emoji was just the trigger versus Right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, I'm.
Speaker A:And again, I do.
Speaker A:I would be really love to hear somebody that had a very different vantage point than self expression.
Speaker A:Because if I'm thinking about being in the audience somewhere and I go.
Speaker A:And then do like, good job.
Speaker B:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker A:As though.
Speaker A:As though.
Speaker A:Look at this.
Speaker A:What color is this?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And what color is that?
Speaker B:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:It's a different color.
Speaker B:It's a different color.
Speaker A:You're fair.
Speaker B:Oh, for sure.
Speaker A:Great point.
Speaker A:You have.
Speaker A:No, no, but I'm just kidding.
Speaker A:Like if I'm doing hand clap, it's gonna be.
Speaker A:Yeah, but, but yeah, so I don't know.
Speaker A:I, I think that that's.
Speaker A:But I think it opens up a bigger conversation if, if we could take it beyond that.
Speaker A:Because I think it really comes down to assuming good intention, using our language and, and being okay with self expression.
Speaker A:Like everyone is going to express themselves a little bit differently.
Speaker A:And, and in that particular case, you know, maybe I'm hoping that that person had a conversation with whomever that is versus take it really in from a place of offense and, and holding them up for doing something that they probably just come just have a very different view of an opinion.
Speaker A:I love.
Speaker A:And I don't know if we had this, if we've talked about this.
Speaker A:I love using the.
Speaker A:I love using and.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I think I've talked about the genius of Van versus the tyranny of war.
Speaker A:And I think when we can, we can say, yeah, you have your idea.
Speaker A:And I would like to add a perspective that might be different.
Speaker A:Like the two could live in the same conversation.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Ease and grace and understanding.
Speaker B:I think that's essential.
Speaker B:And, and what's important is if someone has offended you because of whatever emoji color that they choose, instead of speaking to others about it, go to that person.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's the conversation.
Speaker B:Because I wasn't able to help that person.
Speaker B:I had my own views.
Speaker B:I shared my views.
Speaker B:But ultimately I'm not the one to solve the issue of her feeling offended.
Speaker B:So I suggested that she talked to that original person.
Speaker B:I don't know if she did.
Speaker B:Yeah, but it was just a word.
Speaker B:It was a.
Speaker B:It was an interesting discussion, for sure.
Speaker A:Well, I thank you, Gabby, and I thank you for bringing this up.
Speaker A:And we would, we actually would love to hear from you because like I said, we both, we both share the same perception and would love to hear from somebody who, who thinks a little who thinks differently and can add to what we shared today about how else you can look at that.
Speaker A:The use of emojis.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Well this is where we come to this part of our Empowering bites where we say I'm ink and I'm Gabby with one B and we're out.
Speaker B:Bye bye.
Speaker A:Just like you're saying bye bye silently.
Speaker A:Bye bye.
Speaker A:There you have it.
Speaker A:I trust that you are feeling more empowered in your skin.
Speaker A:As the late Dr. Maya Angelou said, when you get, you give.
Speaker A:When you learn, you teach.
Speaker A:So it would mean so much for us at Empower to My Skin Inc.
Speaker A:If you share this episode and tag us or teach an insight that you took from today's episode on your social and tag us.
Speaker A:Feel free to leave us a review over at itunes and follow us on social media.
Speaker A:Power to My Skin.
Speaker A:Finally, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
