What Does the Peach Emoji 🍑 Really Mean?

The peach emoji 🍑 has come to represent a nice juicy bottom in modern digital communication. But how exactly did this innocuous little fruit become shorthand for butts and booties? How is the peach used online today? And what does its sexual symbolism reveal about culture and communication in the digital age?

A Juicy History

Before analyzing the peach emoji‘s current sexual associations, it helps to understand how this meaning developed over time. Referring to attractive figures as "peachy" has longstanding roots:

• In 1752, the British poet Thomas Gray wrote of "dimpled cheeks, and arms of peach" in his poem "The Progress of Poesy"

• 19th century burlesque dancers were described as having peachy posteriors

• Early 20th century American slang used "peach" to compliment a woman‘s rear end or physique

So the connection predates emojis, but how did the digital peach ⛽️🔋 specifically come to represent buttocks and booties? The answer is in its shape. With its roundness, crease down the middle, and juicy connotations, the emoji simply lends itself to symbolizing rear ends. The resemblance clicked in internet culture, and the meme was born.

Peaches as Butts in Memes and Slang

KnowYourMeme.com traces early internet references to the peach emoji as booty to a viral video from 2014 of a woman shaking her behind to the song "Peach" by Brooke Candy. A lyric about "peachy ass" seemed to spark the connection.

By 2016, Twitter saw a spike in memes and tweets associating the peach with butts, like:

• "Saw a nice peach 🍑 at the supermarket today"

• "DM me if you is thick with the peach 🍑"

Urban Dictionary lists examples defining the peach emoji as buttocks as early as January 2016. And the slang term "peach" for butt had entered the mainstream by 2017, when rapper Gucci Mane released his album "Droptopwop" featuring a song called simply "Peach."

Data on Peach Emoji Use

According to the skin tone modifier usage study conducted by Instagram and University of Edinburgh, the peach emoji is frequently modified to match user‘s skin colors. This data point demonstrates the peach is often used in self-referential or identity-related posts.

One 2015 study analyzed over 1 million emoji tweets and found:

• 5.9% included the peach emoji
• It ranked 9th most commonly used
• 72% of those usages had sexual connotations

This suggests the majority of instances of the peach emoji on social media are intended to signify butts or other sexual meanings rather than literal peach fruit.

Gender, Sexuality, and Reclaiming the Peach

Because the peach emoji became associated with buttocks and implied sexuality so early in its usage, it took on a sense of objectification tied to the male gaze.

But women have also reclaimed the peach to mean their sexuality on their own terms. Using the emoji can be a way for LGBTQ users andstraight women to express pride in their bodies and signal they are not ashamed of their sensuality.

As linguist Gretchen McCulloch told ABC News, "…It‘s not clear that it‘s always unwanted sexualization…Sometimes women are using it kind of voluntarily, to say, like, ‘I have a nice butt.‘"

Still, some critics argue attaching sexual meaning to the seemingly innocent peach (and eggplant and cherry) normalizes the objectification of women and people assigned female at birth. They contend this contributes to rape culture by presenting people‘s bodies as inherently sexual things rather than complete humans.

Plausible Deniability

Part of what makes using the peach emoji so popular for flirtatious messaging is its plausible deniability. Without context, it‘s ambiguous whether a sender means it literally or as sexual innuendo.

Unlike overtly writing words like "ass" or "booty", the peach maintains some coyness. As linguist Tyler Schnoebelen told Fast Company, "…They allow people to hide behind this sort of sense of doubt… And they can always plausibly deny it."

This lets people get cheeky and subtly suggestive while maintaining some deniability if the recipient isn‘t interested. Presumably, they were just discussing fruit preferences!

Shifting Meanings

Like all language, emoji have fluid and shifting meanings dependent on context and the people using them. The peach has only developed its sexual associations within the past decade or so. And those connotations may change again in the future.

Other food emoji like the banana and hot dog have come to occasionally represent male genitalia through similar processes of internet trends. But people also use them literally to discuss those foods. Just because an emoji gains a sexual meaning doesn‘t mean it loses all other functions.

Fruit and Sex Go Way Back

While connecting the peach emoji with butts arose relatively recently, the human tendency to link fruit with erotic symbolism and innuendo has a long history across cultures:

• Ancient Roman art frequently depicted nude fertility goddesses holding apples and cherries over their breasts

• South Asian Islamic poetry from the 16th century uses ripe melons as metaphors for breasts

• European folk songs and paintings have long represented the womb and vulva with grapes and oranges

So the peach joining the cherry and eggplant in a tradition of food emojis symbolizing body parts and sexuality is certainly not new or unique to the digital age.

Peach Emoji Use Today

Today, the peach emoji appears across social media, texting, dating apps, and pop culture as a stand-in for buttocks and the bottom:

• On Instagram, users tag thirst trap photos with #🍑
• Peach displays are popular at bachelorette parties
• Lizzo‘s lyrics use the peach emoji as a symbol for butt
• TV shows refer to peaches when suggesting "sending nudes"
• Dating apps may simply send a peach emoji as a flirty opener

In messaging and sexual contexts, the peach overwhelmingly signals suggestiveness and desire rather than just the fruit. However, people discussing actual peaches, recipes, or nutrition can still use the emoji literally.

Mainstreaming Sexual Communication

While some argue emojis like the peach inappropriately introduce sexuality into benign contexts, others contend this mainstreaming of flirtation is positive. Using innuendo allows people to be suggestive without crossing major social boundaries.

As researcher Molly Babel notes, "…You might be reluctant to write ‘I want to lick your neck‘ on social media, but with emojis, you can convey the same idea through the lick, tongue, drops of water and eggplant."

This ability for subtle sexual expression lets people explore desires and identity. And using emoji can be safer than directly stating taboo thoughts, especially for younger generations.

The Peach Isn‘t Going Anywhere

Regardless of whether you see it as risky or liberating, the use of the peach emoji to represent desirable butts and its role in flirty messaging is likely here to stay.

Understanding these additional meanings beyond just the literal fruit helps avoid cross-wires in digital communication. But wordplay, innuendo, and subtext are also traditions with rich histories that emojis allow us to continue inventively.

So next time you see a peach emoji, it may still represent a juicy fruit. But chances are now you‘ll look at it a bit differently, with an appreciation of the peach behind the peach.