"Can there be true equality in the classroom and the boardroom if there isn’t in the bedroom? Back in 1995 the National Commission on Adolescent Sexual Health declared healthy sexual development a basic human right. Teen intimacy, it said, ought to be “consensual, non-exploitative, honest, pleasurable, and protected against unintended pregnancy and STDs.” How is it, over two decades later, that we are so shamefully short of that goal?"

Peggy Orenstein, "Girls and Sex"

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Teicu♥ is a self-development app that helps adolescent girls build their own vocabulary for sexual encounters, ensuring decisions are made through understanding, rather than shame or pressure.

The app was conceived through research into STD trends in the U.S, Canada and the UK, indicating that certain sexual diseases were increasing due to the misguided belief that oral sex was safe sex and could be used as a currency by girls, with boys, to avoid intercourse and earn attention.

Acknowledging the sensitivity on this topic and teenagers' brutally tough cynicism, it was important to use imagery and language that was direct, gentle and comical... inviting exploration without the user noticing any effort to counsel or educate.

The current prototype includes a navigation path around the vulva, with placeholder content around a "map" of the vulva, what orgasm really means and how to identify the presence of "Darth Vulva", the nemesis of female sexual pleasure.

Previous iterations of app scope include sex planning, a "share my location" feature for close friends and a section to motivate girls to plan their ride home or alert friends if they don't respond by a certain time.

 

 

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♥ According to the Internet, Teicu was an Aztec goddess of sexual appetite, so it seemed appropriate to borrow this reference to encourage adolescent girls to own their own sexual agenda.