‘The nerd emoji is not who we are’

A schoolgirl campaigner who has previously called for more glasses-wearing heroines in Disney films is calling for better representation from tech companies.

Lowri, 13, from Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, says one of the few bespectacled emojis is the “nerd” face, which she believes is damaging to the confidence of young glasses wearers.

She has written to the Unicode Consortium, a group of tech companies which approves new emojis, calling for an option to add glasses to emojis.

The teenager made headlines in 2019 after writing to Disney, calling for more glasses-wearing female characters in their films.

The company responded by inviting Lowri to accompany them to the Baftas, where their latest film Encanto – which features a glasses-wearing heroine – was honoured.

She is launching her latest campaign to coincide with World Sight Day.

“Teenagers [who wear glasses] don’t really feel represented,” Lowri said.

“Not positively anyway. If it’s representation then it’s the nerd [emoji] and that’s not who we are.”

Video journalist: Alex Thorp

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