Jennifer Daniel, designer at Google, thinks about this deep irony at the heart of visual language all the time. She traces it back to the age-old problem with the male bathroom symbol. “That person ...
The symbol for female (left) and male (right). If you've ever navigated your way through a set of public restrooms, chances are you've been confronted with these glyphs: ♀ for female, ♂ for male.