Fortnite's 'Drop it' emote works differently with every gender

Fortnite's latest Icon Series emote called 'Drop It' has received a lot of attention and love from the community. Although it was initially thought that this was an emote in collaboration with American YouTube sensation IShowSpeed, the rumor was debunked pretty soon after.

The emote features the hit TikTok track, Do It To It by ACRAZE ft. Cherish, with moves based on the dance performed by Jeff Tingz. It appeared in the item shop on December 8, 2022 and was last seen about a day ago. When listed, it costs 500 V-Bucks.

What's interesting about the emote is that the execution of the dance moves is performed differently based on the gender of the skin that's being used. Given that the trend has both genders performing it in the exact same way in real-life, this has left some players confused and with good reason.

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Fortnite 'Drop it' leaves users confused as to why different genders perform the emote differently

The original dance step involves the person's knees going outward while the body 'drops' down using the feet as support, much like a wide-squat. This exact thing translates into the game for all male skins. However, female skins have something different.

Rather than 'dropping' and doing a wide squat with the knees apart, the knees are brought together and stay in place for the duration of the 'drop.' This has left fans rather perplexed and confused as to why Epic Games chose to do this. Here's how a few other fans reacted to it:

When compared to the actual dance moves, this one looks rather stiff in nature. To an extent, it looks rather odd as well. Renowned concept artist D3NNI_yt even commented on the stiffness of the 'Drop it' emote, saying:

"Ik (I know) this is a kids game but why is the drop so stiff (?)."

While Epic Games has not provided a reason, it's likely due to some female skins that wear skirts in-game. When using this emote, modesty may be compromised. To avoid issues, this is the safest route to go. That said, there are still a few exceptions to this rule.

For instance, Joey, a female skin from Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 7 executes the 'Drop it' emote like a normal male skin would. This is due to the fact that Joey is an alien who dons a male outfit as an element of surprise. Furthermore, as she wears pants, Epic Games is unlikely to change how it works.

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Is different gender skins having different animations for certain emotes new in Fortnite?

While the 'Drop it' emote is the latest example of different animations for different genders in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1, this feature is not new. This feature has been around for years and several emotes, such as Bean Bag, Have A Seat, and more recently Teth's Throne, all have different animations for their respective genders.

For those stating that this is a secret or hidden feature, it couldn't be any further away from the truth. These are just animations that have been implemented by Epic Games and nothing else. Depending on the gender of the skin used, that specific animation is triggered.

There will be exceptions like Joey and Twyn, but most other skins will follow this law. While it may look odd and the logic behind it may seem flawed, there are certain things that Epic Games must enforce to follow a few PG-13 guidelines in Fortnite.