woman facepalming
Unicode: 1F926 200D 2640 FE0F
Description
A person with a hand over their face, gesturing disbelief, embarrassment, or exasperation, specifically a woman. This emoji combines the 'Face with Palm Over Mouth' (1F926) with the 'Woman' (2640 FE0F) ZWJ sequence.
Group:
People & Body > person-gesture
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents embarrassment, shame, disbelief, annoyance, 'facepalm' moment, or being speechless with frustration.
Backstory
The 'Face with Palm Over Mouth' (1F926) was introduced in Unicode 9.0 (2016). The ZWJ sequence for a 'woman' (2640 FE0F) was added later to provide gender diversity, allowing for specific depiction of a woman facepalming. The 'facepalm' gesture itself gained widespread popularity as an internet meme prior to its emoji representation, symbolizing exasperation.
Usage Examples
- Reacting to an obvious mistake: 'Seriously? You forgot your keys again? 🤦♀️'
- Expressing disbelief at a news story: 'I can't believe they said that. 🤦♀️'
- Showing self-embarrassment: 'I just walked into the wrong meeting. 🤦♀️'
- Conveying frustration with someone's actions: 'Did you really just do that? 🤦♀️'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely used to express disbelief, 'can't believe this' moments, exasperation with someone's actions or a situation, or self-deprecation for a mistake.
East Asian culture:
Similar usage to Western culture, often employed to convey mild embarrassment or a 'facepalm' reaction to something foolish or awkward, sometimes more reservedly than outright anger.