woman kneeling
Unicode: 1F9CE 200D 2640 FE0F
Description
A person kneeling, a 'man gesturing OK' emoji, combined with the 'female sign' emoji, creating a kneeling person specifically identified as female. The person has light-brown skin, and is kneeling with the palms facing the ground. This emoji usually depicts a person in a respectful or submissive posture, or possibly praying.
Group:
People & Body > person-activity
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Can represent respect, humility, prayer, supplication, submission, or a plea. The emotional valence depends heavily on context.
Backstory
This is a ZWJ (Zero Width Joiner) sequence, meaning it's a combination of multiple existing emojis to create a new, more specific one. The 'kneeling person' was first introduced in Unicode 12.0 (2019) with various skin tone options. The addition of the 'female sign' (2640 FE0F) specifically feminizes the kneeling person, providing a gender-specific representation. The original 'person kneeling' emoji was designed to be gender-neutral before gender-specific variations were added.
Usage Examples
- Expressing prayer or devotion: 'Praying for you 🙏🏻🙇♀️'
- Showing respect or humility: 'I deeply apologize for the mistake 🙇♀️'
- Making a plea: 'Please help me, I'm desperate 🙇♀️'
- Showing admiration for someone: 'So much respect for her work 🙇♀️'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Often associated with prayer, respectful acknowledgement, or a show of humility/vulnerability. Can also be used in contexts of 'begging' or 'pleading'.
East Asian culture:
Similar interpretations, often related to prayer or showing deep respect (e.g., in temples or towards elders). Can also be used for a deep bow of apology or gratitude.