Grandma Emoji is making headlines again.

I’m thrilled to share that my opinion piece, “Apple’s Grandma Emoji Doesn’t Look Like Today’s Older Women. It’s Time for a Makeover,” has been published on NJ.com.

What started as a very specific complaint about a confused expression, granny glasses, and one truly unfortunate bun has become a much bigger conversation about how we portray older women and grandmothers.

The science I’ve been studying tells us that grandmothers can be active, deeply connected, remarkably influential forces in the lives of their grandchildren. Yet the image many of us tap when we want to represent “Grandma” still reflects a stereotype that feels decades behind the women it is meant to represent.

That’s exactly why I started the Ban the Bun Campaign: to ask Apple for a Grandma Emoji that better reflects the vitality, intelligence, humor, and power of modern grandmothers.

I’m grateful to NJ.com for giving this conversation another platform.

Read the full opinion piece on NJ.com:
https://www.nj.com/opinion/2026/09/apples-grandma-emoji-doesnt-look-like-todays-older-women-its-time-for-a-makeover-opinion.html

And if you agree that Grandma Emoji is overdue for a makeover, you can cast your vote and join the Ban the Bun Campaign here.