When was the last time you heard someone talk about female masturbation on network television? If you compare it with the number of jokes about jerking off in shows centered on awkward teenage males, then you’ll begin to see the prevalence of one of our culture’s last sexual taboos. The media silence around this topic does not exist without consequence. We know that there is a sizable gap between the frequencies that males and females report self-stimulating. We know that in a patriarchal society where there are double standards as to sexual behavior and purity, silence around female masturbation creates shame. We even know that the disincentive for women to understand their bodies and desires only serves to hinder their relationships and sexual autonomy.
This is the trend that HappyPlayTime attempts to eliminate. Starring Happy, an anthropomorphic vulva, this sex education game aims to end the stigma around female masturbation by teaching women different techniques to masturbate. Players progress by stimulating Happy until she orgasms, either by using their fingers on their phones or mouse on their computer. As they beat each level, players receive lessons about female sexual anatomy and power-ups like porn, lube, and a vibrator.
Tina Gong first got the idea for the app in 2010 while she was a junior at NYU Gallatin. She created the character design for Happy during a time of struggle with her own sexuality. However, it wasn’t until after she graduated that she became serious about developing the app. The inspiration came when she worked as the Creative Director of Plum Alley, a website that helps women raise money to start companies and fund their projects. Interacting with so many entrepreneurial women who were following their dreams gave her the courage to create a website to promote the game. In 2013, she began the technical aspects of creating HappyPlayTime.
In 2014, the app was ready for release through any distribution platform that would take it. Originally, Gong had wanted the game to be available for girls 13 and over because she believed it was the age when they were truly learning about their bodies and sexualities. Furthermore, she understood the difficulty of undoing the psychological harm that negative body image and ideas about sexuality could cause. But the realities of getting Apple’s App Store to pick up the app made her change it to 17 and over. On May 13th, Apple rejected the app for being “excessively objectionable or crude” and for “containing pornographic material.” Many people believe it had to do with the app’s playful mascot.
This is the trend that HappyPlayTime attempts to eliminate. Starring Happy, an anthropomorphic vulva, this sex education game aims to end the stigma around female masturbation by teaching women different techniques to masturbate. Players progress by stimulating Happy until she orgasms, either by using their fingers on their phones or mouse on their computer. As they beat each level, players receive lessons about female sexual anatomy and power-ups like porn, lube, and a vibrator.
Tina Gong first got the idea for the app in 2010 while she was a junior at NYU Gallatin. She created the character design for Happy during a time of struggle with her own sexuality. However, it wasn’t until after she graduated that she became serious about developing the app. The inspiration came when she worked as the Creative Director of Plum Alley, a website that helps women raise money to start companies and fund their projects. Interacting with so many entrepreneurial women who were following their dreams gave her the courage to create a website to promote the game. In 2013, she began the technical aspects of creating HappyPlayTime.
In 2014, the app was ready for release through any distribution platform that would take it. Originally, Gong had wanted the game to be available for girls 13 and over because she believed it was the age when they were truly learning about their bodies and sexualities. Furthermore, she understood the difficulty of undoing the psychological harm that negative body image and ideas about sexuality could cause. But the realities of getting Apple’s App Store to pick up the app made her change it to 17 and over. On May 13th, Apple rejected the app for being “excessively objectionable or crude” and for “containing pornographic material.” Many people believe it had to do with the app’s playful mascot.
“The whole character that is a big part of HappyPlayTime is meant to represent a symbol,” Gong said in an interview. “More an archetype of depicting female innocence and also, at the same time, female power.”
Gong appealed the decision, explaining the positive intentions behind the game. On May 16th, the appeal was rejected.
Despite the setback, the momentum did not halt. The year of app development had brought her attention from media outlets and praise from supporters. Over the summer, Gong recorded the app into an HTML5 format – making it playable on all devices, like the addicting 2048. In September, she silently released a Beta version of the game on her website.
“I don’t think that [app technology] has been explored from that lens [of] improving sex education,” she said.
Spreading awareness for young girls is part and parcel to HappyPlayTime’s ultimate objective. Gong believes that the notion of sexual purity for women creates a mechanism for people to not talk about female masturbation in the mainstream. By spreading awareness about female sexuality, she hopes to break this silence by creating an easier way for women to talk about their own sexuality and end the embarrassment that comes of isolation.
Tina Gong isn’t sure how she would measure the effectiveness of the app. But, as HappyPlayTime becomes more social, her goal is to see “a lot of acceptance from women, from girls, not just for themselves, but also for other girls.”
Gong appealed the decision, explaining the positive intentions behind the game. On May 16th, the appeal was rejected.
Despite the setback, the momentum did not halt. The year of app development had brought her attention from media outlets and praise from supporters. Over the summer, Gong recorded the app into an HTML5 format – making it playable on all devices, like the addicting 2048. In September, she silently released a Beta version of the game on her website.
“I don’t think that [app technology] has been explored from that lens [of] improving sex education,” she said.
Spreading awareness for young girls is part and parcel to HappyPlayTime’s ultimate objective. Gong believes that the notion of sexual purity for women creates a mechanism for people to not talk about female masturbation in the mainstream. By spreading awareness about female sexuality, she hopes to break this silence by creating an easier way for women to talk about their own sexuality and end the embarrassment that comes of isolation.
Tina Gong isn’t sure how she would measure the effectiveness of the app. But, as HappyPlayTime becomes more social, her goal is to see “a lot of acceptance from women, from girls, not just for themselves, but also for other girls.”
Willie Burnley Jr is a junior Writing, Literature, and Publishing major and an Editor-in-Chief of Isis Magazine. He's fascinated with politics, social justice, big ideas, people that look like big ideas, and anime.
Images: HappyPlayTime.com
Images: HappyPlayTime.com