Emojiself

Emoji pronouns, or Emojiself, are a subset of neopronouns similar to nounself pronouns, which make use of emojis and are usually used only online.

Pronunciation

 * eh-MOH-jee-self

History
It is unclear where the concept originally originated, although in 2017, Pronouns-archive, a pronoun archiving Tumblr, began receiving submissions for emojiself sets (which were rejected due to accessibility concerns). Pronoun-provider, a Tumblr dedicated to pronoun submissions that became inactive in 2019, has 💀/💀s/💀self [skull/skulls/skullself] on their list.

Real life usage
While some emojiself resources state that the pronouns are exclusive to online use, some people may use related and/or unrelated auxiliary pronouns in speech, or in text communications where emojis are unavailable, or one may drop pronouns altogether. For example, someone who uses 🦊/🦊s [fox/fox]s may instead use an equivalent nounself set like fox/fox/foxs/foxs/foxself, an unrelated set like they/them, and/or use no pronouns.

Some users of emojiself pronouns do so because they are sheerly visual, and the user does not "translate" emoji into anything. Regardless, even if an emoji has a nounself or other word equivalent, the sets are not interchangeable.

Controversy
"As someone who occassionally uses a screenreader, I believe the problem is less "emoji pronouns are inaccessible" and more just "accessibility technology needs to be way better". I use many neopronouns, a few of which are emojis, but I do use auxiliary pronouns (he/him) if necessary."
 * It is a common claim (usually of Exclusionist groups) that neopronouns in general are a new invention. However, this is untrue and ahistorical.
 * Accessibility concerns are a common reason people reject emojiself pronouns. In a small survey of 10 people, 7 with various disabilities could use emojiself pronouns and 3 could not.

- Anonymous in Poll

Misgendering
See main article: Misgendering

Using the incorrect pronouns for someone when you are aware of their pronouns is misgendering. Misgendering is an act of erasure and transphobia, which has been linked to mental health struggles and suicide. The U.S. Transgender Survey states that 54% of those living with unsupportive families, where their family members may misgender them, had attempted suicide within their lifetime. 37% of those with supportive families had attempted suicide at some point of their lives. "Because names and pronouns are the two ways people call and refer to others, they are personal and important. They are also key facets of our identity. Therefore, calling someone by the wrong name or “misgendering” them by using incorrect pronouns can feel disrespectful, harmful and even unsafe."

- Let’s Get It Right: Using Correct Pronouns and Names

"According to the World Health Organization, violence is referred to as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.” When someone intentionally misgenders a transgender person, it can be noted as psychological abuse. Misgendering is dehumanizing; when you purposefully disregard someone’s gender, simply because they are not like you, it can lead to mental and physical harm."

- Intentionally Misgendering Transgender People is Considered Violence

Flags
Like other parts of a person's identity, like their gender or orientation (or even their kink or disability), flags may be made specifically for pronouns. Unlike other facets of queer identity, pronoun flags at large don't follow any real common convention. Flags for pronouns vary wildly in design, number of stripes, and symbols used.

A pronoun flag format called "pronoun path" is used by Tumblr user mothpride. This refers to a specific design of flag that uses two overlapping stripes, with each flag being unaligned with any identity, just pronouns. The first example of this format being used was posted November 10th, 2020, and the term "pronoun path" was first used in another post the same day. In 2021, Ezgender designed a proposed "standard pronoun template" and released a free online template for it.