'It’s very stereotypical,' Nottingham schoolgirl who inspired Disney calls for glasses emoji change

A schoolgirl from Nottinghamshire who got Disney to create a princess with glasses, is once again challenging the stigma on glasses with the nerd-face emoji.

Lowri Moore, from Chilwell, is pleading to Unicode Consortium, the global body which decides what emojis look like – to broaden representation of glasses-wearers on emojis.

She launches her new campaign today (13th October), which is World Sight Day.

The thirteen-year-old has had previous campaigning success after Disney created a glasses-wearing Disney princess in it's recent animated feature Encanto.

She is hoping her next letter to the Consortium will be just as successful.

Lowri said: “Unfortunately, the only glasses wearing emoji I can find is a nerd face. People who wear glasses are not nerds.

“But unless we address this, there’s a chance the next generation will grow up believing this lie about themselves.”

Lowri Moore, a glasses-wearer, wrote to Disney when she was nine pleading for its next heroine to wear glasses, but thought she has been ignored when she didn't get a response.

However when Encanto was released she was credited and thanked by the film’s director, Jared Bush, as inspiration for the main character, Mirabel Madrigal, who wears glasses.

Mr Bush - who wears glasses himself - later told Lowri “she’s my hero”.

She's unveiled her new campaign to an audience of school children in Burton-on-Trent, collecting signatures for her #GlassesOn campaign.

When she was there, Lowri said: “I am just trying to raise awareness for an issue which is large, especially for people my age, like teenagers, just to get glasses on emojis.

“Even if it’s just one (emoji), this is a positive change.”

Earlier, she told her audience that bespectacled emojis were currently limited to a teacher, a grandmother and a nerd-type character.

“It’s very stereotypical and I shouldn’t be put in a box,” she said.

Lowri added: “So many human beings just wear glasses so they can see, so why make it a stereotype and make people feel bad?”

“It’s so simple, we’re not asking that every emoji has to wear glasses – let’s just have that option so people don’t feel negative about themselves."

“A small difference can go a long way.”

The campaign has the backing of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), which earlier this year awarded Lowri its campaigner of the year award.

Jessica Thompson, IAPB policy, strategy and advocacy director, said: “We’re so proud of Lowri.”

She added: “It’s such an important issue because certainly, the nerd emoji and having emojis that aren’t representative of people wearing glasses just perpetuates the stigma.

“It’s really important we encourage children and their parents of the importance of looking after their eyes, getting sight tests and wearing their glasses.”

Citing research showing UK children who wear glasses were more likely to be bullied in school, she added social media giants needed to be “encouraging children… glasses are really important”.

She added the IAPB was running a broader World Sight Day campaign aimed at raising awareness about eye health in a world where a billion people have no access to the eye care services common in the UK.

“It’s a serious message but hopefully today we’ve delivered that with a bit of fun,” she said.

Ian Brierly, Paget High School headteacher, where Lowri launched her campaign, said she was a “terrific role model for young people who they can identify with”.