Woman: Bald Emoji
U+1F469 U+200D U+1F9B2:bald_woman:Skin tonesAbout Woman: Bald π©βπ¦²
Woman: Bald () is part of the People & Body group in Unicode. Added in Unicode E11.0. Type on GitHub and Slack to use it. On Discord it's . Click copy above to grab it, paste it anywhere.
Works in iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, Instagram, Twitter, Gmail, and every app that supports Unicode. Pick a skin tone above to customize it.
Often associated with adult, bald, lady, and 1 more keywords.
Meaning varies across cultures, see cultural notes below.
Scroll down for the full story: meaning, trends, combos, and more.
How it looks
What does it mean?
A woman with a bald or shaved head. What makes this emoji unusual is that it exists partly because of a petition. In 2017, Jade Jarvis, a 24-year-old woman with alopecia areata, launched a Change.org petition calling on Apple to add a bald emoji. "Emoji are often used when you don't know the words to say," she wrote, "and when you suffer from hair loss it's hard to express yourself."
The petition caught enough attention that the Unicode Consortium included the 𦲠Bald component in Emoji 11.0 in 2018, alongside red hair, curly hair, and white hair. The bald emoji became the most popular new emoji of 2018, and a peer-reviewed study called "The Bald Emoji Effect" found that its introduction led to a surge of alopecia-related tweets, most sharing personal experiences. One emoji changed how people talked about hair loss online.
But π©β𦲠isn't just about medical hair loss. It represents anyone with a shaved or bald head, whether by choice, genetics, or treatment. It's worn as a style statement (Amber Rose has had a bleached buzzcut for 15 years), a professional choice (Demi Moore in G.I. Jane), or a personal one.
People use π©β𦲠in four main contexts. First, self-representation: women with shaved heads or natural baldness use it in profiles and bios. Second, solidarity with hair loss: the emoji shows up in alopecia awareness posts, cancer treatment updates, and support messages. Third, the confidence/empowerment context: TikTok's buzzcut transformation videos get this emoji in the comments alongside π₯ and π. Fourth, referencing specific women: Jada Pinkett Smith, Amber Rose, or anyone who's made baldness part of their identity.
The Jada Pinkett Smith / Will Smith / Chris Rock moment at the 2022 Oscars brought π©β𦲠into a new context. After Rock's G.I. Jane joke about Pinkett Smith's alopecia-related baldness, the internet exploded with discourse about shaming women for hair loss. The emoji became shorthand in those conversations.
It represents a woman with a bald or shaved head. People use it for self-representation, alopecia awareness, buzzcut style appreciation, cancer solidarity, and referencing bald women in pop culture. The meaning depends heavily on context.
No. While it's commonly used in medical hair loss contexts, many women use π©β𦲠because they shave by choice. Amber Rose, for example, has worn a buzzcut for over 15 years as a style statement. Assuming medical reasons can be reductive.
What it means from...
If someone sends π©β𦲠about themselves, they're showing you what they look like. If they send it about someone they find attractive ("Amber Rose vibes π©βπ¦²π₯"), they're naming a type. Responding with fire or crown emojis is the right energy. Asking "but have you tried growing it out?" is not.
Between partners, this emoji might appear when someone is considering shaving their head and testing the waters ("thinking about going π©βπ¦²"). It can also show up during medical discussions about treatment-related hair loss. Either way, the right response is support, not unsolicited opinions about their appearance.
Friends use π©β𦲠to hype up buzzcut transformations, to reference bald-headed icons, or in solidarity during tough medical conversations. In lighter contexts, it's "you'd look amazing with a shaved head π©βπ¦²" or reaction content for buzzcut videos.
In family contexts, π©β𦲠is often descriptive or part of health conversations. A daughter shaving her head for the first time might get this emoji from a supportive parent. Less supportive families might send it as an unwelcome commentary. Context and relationship dynamics matter here more than with most emojis.
At work, use this emoji with caution. Commenting on someone's baldness, even with an emoji, can be perceived as insensitive if you don't know their reason for it. In general workplace chat, it's safer as a reference to cultural moments (the Oscars incident, for example) than to actual coworkers.
From strangers online, π©β𦲠is usually either a compliment on a buzzcut ("you're rocking this π©βπ¦²π₯"), a solidarity reaction, or a self-identifier in a bio. If someone you don't know well sends it to you unprompted, they might be commenting on your appearance, which can be unwelcome depending on context.
Flirty or friendly?
π©β𦲠is rarely used flirtatiously on its own. It's more about identity, style, or health than romance. But when combined with π₯, π, or π, it becomes a compliment about someone's look. "You're giving π©βπ¦²π₯" is flirty. The emoji by itself is descriptive.
- β’π©βπ¦²π₯ = compliment on the shaved look. Could be flirty depending on who's sending it.
- β’π©β𦲠alone in a bio = self-identification. Not flirting.
- β’π©β𦲠in response to your selfie = they're noticing your look. Could be appreciative.
- β’In medical contexts, it's never flirty. Read the room.
Emoji combos
Origin story
The story of π©β𦲠starts with a petition. In 2017, Jade Jarvis, a young woman from the UK with alopecia areata, launched a Change.org petition asking Apple to add bald emojis. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition where the body attacks its own hair follicles. For Jarvis, it also caused vision loss in one eye. Her petition asked for something simple: emoji that looked like her.
Around the same time, Jeremy Burge, the founder of Emojipedia and a member of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, was already drafting a proposal for hair diversity emojis. His proposal included four "emoji components": 𦰠red hair, 𦱠curly hair, 𦳠white hair, and 𦲠bald. CNN covered the announcement in 2017, and the components shipped in Emoji 11.0 in June 2018.
The arrival wasn't just a technical milestone. A study published in the Australasian Journal of Dermatology examined what happened on Twitter after the bald emoji launched. The researchers analyzed 808 alopecia-related tweets and found a surge in personal experience sharing. Of those tweets, 329 described personal encounters with hair loss, with the majority calling it "confidence-wrecking." The bald emoji gave people a symbol to anchor conversations they'd been having privately. The researchers called it "The Bald Emoji Effect."
Added in Emoji 11.0 (June 2018) as a ZWJ sequence: (Woman) + (ZWJ) + (Bald). Part of the hair diversity expansion proposed by Jeremy Burge. The bald component was partly inspired by a petition from Jade Jarvis, an alopecia patient who wanted emoji that reflected her experience.
Design history
- 2017Jade Jarvis launches Change.org petition for a bald emoji, citing alopecia areata and the need for representationβ
- 2017Jeremy Burge proposes hair diversity emojis to Unicode, including bald, red, curly, and white hairβ
- 2018Emoji 11.0 approved with 𦲠Bald component. Apple ships it in iOS 12.1
- 2018Bald emoji becomes the most popular new emoji of 2018
- 2020'The Bald Emoji Effect' study published, showing how π©β𦲠changed alopecia conversations on Twitterβ
- 2022The Will Smith / Chris Rock Oscars incident brings π©β𦲠into mainstream discourse about hair loss shamingβ
Around the world
Female baldness carries wildly different meanings across cultures. In many Buddhist traditions, women shaving their heads is a spiritual act of renunciation and devotion. In Maasai communities in East Africa, shaved heads are traditional for women. In much of Western culture, though, a bald woman still triggers assumptions: medical treatment, rebellion, or mental health crisis (the Britney Spears narrative, unfairly, is still the default for many people).
The gender double standard is stark. A study in the Journal of Women & Aging found that women with gray or no hair face what the researchers called "gendered ageism": they're perceived as less competent than men with the same appearance. Bald men are "powerful" (Vin Diesel, Jason Statham). Bald women are questioned.
The TikTok buzzcut trend is slowly shifting this. In 2024 and 2025, head-shaving transformation videos featuring women have gone viral, with comments full of π©βπ¦²π₯ and π. The framing has moved from "brave" to "hot," which is progress even if it's still centered on attractiveness.
Jade Jarvis, a 24-year-old from the UK with alopecia areata, launched a Change.org petition in 2017 asking Apple for bald emoji representation. Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipedia, separately proposed hair diversity emojis to Unicode. Both efforts contributed to the 𦲠component being approved in 2018.
A peer-reviewed study called 'The Bald Emoji Effect' found that introducing bald emojis led to a measurable increase in personal alopecia stories on Twitter. Of 808 alopecia-related tweets analyzed, 329 shared personal experiences. The emoji gave people a visual anchor for conversations about hair loss.
Often confused with
Person: Bald (π§βπ¦²) is the gender-neutral version. Use it when the person's gender isn't relevant or they prefer gender-neutral representation. π©β𦲠is specifically female.
Person: Bald (π§βπ¦²) is the gender-neutral version. Use it when the person's gender isn't relevant or they prefer gender-neutral representation. π©β𦲠is specifically female.
Man: Bald (π¨βπ¦²) is the male counterpart. Same hair component (π¦²), different base person. In practice, men's baldness is so common that π¨β𦲠gets used far more casually than π©βπ¦², which often carries more weight because of gendered expectations around hair.
Man: Bald (π¨βπ¦²) is the male counterpart. Same hair component (π¦²), different base person. In practice, men's baldness is so common that π¨β𦲠gets used far more casually than π©βπ¦², which often carries more weight because of gendered expectations around hair.
π©β𦲠is specifically a woman with a bald head. π§β𦲠is the gender-neutral version, representing any person with a bald head. Use π§β𦲠when gender isn't relevant or the person prefers neutral representation.
Do's and don'ts
- βUse it for self-representation if you're a bald or shaved-head woman
- βUse it in alopecia awareness and cancer solidarity contexts
- βUse it to hype up someone's buzzcut (pair with π₯ or π)
- βRespect that some people use this emoji because they have no other choice, not because they chose to be bald
- βDon't use it to comment on someone's appearance unless you know they're comfortable with it
- βDon't assume why someone is bald. It could be medical, genetic, or personal choice. None of those reasons require explanation.
- βDon't pair it with sad or pitying emojis unless the person themselves is expressing that emotion. Baldness isn't inherently sad.
It depends on your relationship and whether you know why they're bald. Using it to celebrate someone's buzzcut choice is fine. Using it to describe a coworker's appearance without knowing their comfort level is not. When in doubt, follow their lead: if they use the emoji themselves, you can too.
Caption ideas
Aesthetic sets
Type it as text
Fun facts
- β’The bald emoji became the most popular new emoji of 2018, outpacing red hair, curly hair, and white hair variants. Hair loss representation resonated more than hair style diversity.
- β’Sinead O'Connor shaved her head in 1987 after record executives told her to grow her hair long and wear miniskirts. She walked straight to the barber. That act of defiance predated π©β𦲠by 31 years, but the emoji embodies the same energy.
- β’About 50% of women will experience some form of hair loss in their lifetime. The π©β𦲠emoji represents a reality that's far more common than most people realize.
- β’When Britney Spears shaved her head in 2007, it was framed as a breakdown. Years later, she clarified it was one of the few decisions that was entirely hers. The cultural reframing of that moment is part of why π©β𦲠is now more likely to read as empowerment than crisis.
Common misinterpretations
- β’Some people read π©β𦲠as always medical (cancer, alopecia). While those uses are important, many women are bald by choice. Assuming medical reasons can be reductive.
- β’The emoji can be misread as making fun of baldness when used out of context. In conversations about hair or appearance, be clear about your intent.
In pop culture
- β’SinΓ©ad O'Connor made the shaved head a statement of artistic independence in 1987. CNN's obituary coverage traced how her buzzcut became a lasting symbol of defiance against the music industry's beauty standards.
- β’Demi Moore shaved her head for G.I. Jane (1997), a role that required her to go fully bald on screen. The film became so associated with female baldness that Chris Rock referenced it 25 years later at the Oscars, triggering the most talked-about moment of the 2022 ceremony.
- β’Amber Rose has worn a bleached buzzcut for over 15 years, inspired by SinΓ©ad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" video. She's become one of the most visible advocates for bald women in pop culture.
- β’The 2022 Oscars incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock, sparked by a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's alopecia, became the most viral cultural moment to center on women's hair loss and the ethics of joking about it.
Trivia
For developers
- β’ZWJ sequence: + + . Three codepoints, renders as one glyph on supported platforms.
- β’Skin tone modifiers go on the person base: + + + = π©π»βπ¦².
- β’The 𦲠Bald component displays as a small square on most platforms when used alone. It's designed as a modifier, not a standalone emoji.
- β’Discord shortcode: . GitHub: . Slack: .
- β’Fallback rendering: on unsupported systems, shows as π©π¦² (woman + bald square). The ZWJ is invisible, so users see two separate characters.
It was approved in Emoji 11.0 in June 2018 as part of the hair diversity expansion. Apple shipped it in iOS 12.1 in October 2018.
Yes. The skin tone modifier goes on the base person character: π©π»βπ¦², π©πΌβπ¦², π©π½βπ¦², π©πΎβπ¦², π©πΏβπ¦². All five Fitzpatrick scale options are available.
See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.
What does π©β𦲠represent to you?
Select all that apply
- Woman: Bald (emojipedia.org)
- A bald emoji: The true story behind the petition to Apple (sbs.com.au)
- The Bald Emoji Effect: Alopecia and Twitter (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Hair Diversity Emoji Proposal (refinery29.com)
- Jada Pinkett Smith's hair loss at the Oscars (npr.org)
- Sinead O'Connor and the bald history of the buzzcut (cnn.com)
- Gendered ageism and gray hair (tandfonline.com)
- Hair Loss Statistics (thehairsociety.org)
- Redheads, textured hair, bald heads coming to Emoji lineup (cnn.com)
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