woman shrugging
Unicode: 1F937 200D 2640 FE0F
Description
A person shrugging, with a woman's symbol, indicating confusion or uncertainty.
Group:
People & Body > person-gesture
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents a lack of knowledge, indifference, helplessness, or 'I don't know'. It conveys a sense of passive resignation or a question about a situation.
Backstory
This emoji began its life as 🤷, a straightforward person shrugging, introduced in Unicode 9.0 (2016). The 200D 2640 FE0F sequence adds the female gender sign, creating a specific representation of a woman shrugging. It visualizes the common 'shrug' gesture, universally recognized as a sign of not knowing or not caring.
Usage Examples
- When asked a question you don't know the answer to: 'Where did I put my keys? 🤷♀️'
- Expressing indifference: 'What movie should we watch? 🤷♀️'
- Conveying helplessness: 'There's nothing more I can do 🤷♀️'
- Reacting to an absurd situation: 'People sometimes say the darndest things 🤷♀️'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely understood and used to express doubt, confusion, or a noncommittal 'beats me' attitude.
East Asian culture:
Similar usage to Western culture, often employed in casual digital conversations to convey uncertainty or a 'what can you do?' sentiment.