Curated from: Learn - shy
As 2021 draws to a close, we reflect on how running shy.sg has impacted our lives, and what we have learnt from having open conversations about sexual health and wellness with those around us and our readers.
❤️, Team Shy
Co-founder Junel:
A big part of what inspires the content at Shy is the sexual health issues and learning experiences from people we know. After all, Shy was started because we wanted to make sexual health education real and fun for curious youths like ourselves.
The stories and personal sharings from our friends and the Shy community about topics like revenge porn, how to practice safe sex with your FWB (friends-with-benefits), living with HIV, or even how to explore anal sex and masturbation are all valid issues a thousand others are experiencing or curious about.
By learning from these experiences, we are able to make more reliable and relatable sexual health and wellness content for our community. If you are facing a sexual health issue, chances are a hundred other people are facing the same exact issue as well.
Co-founder Charmaine:
One of my proudest achievements this year is the launch of Shy’s forum. After all, it is something that the team has been talking about since day one of starting Shy.
For those who don’t know, NUS Whisper was one of the few motivations that got us started on Shy - when we realized that many people make use of anonymous platforms online to seek advice from others. This was especially applicable for sensitive (but important) topics like sexual health and wellness!
We really hope that our forum can help connect you with the kind of advice you need. Be it from a professional or a kind stranger online.
Co-founder Ruth:
2021 was a pivotal year for me as I entered a new relationship, and I have never been happier.
Having experienced both toxic and stable, loving relationships, it is clearer now than ever that both who you choose to be with, and what you choose to do in every relationship matters. My previous toxic relationship started out as an FWB situation, which turned into a year of prolonged insecurities, sleepless nights and anxiety attacks. Some days I must admit I wish I had known better than to have done that.
But I am grateful, for this experience taught me to never settle for someone who is unsure about you. And I hope that my own missteps can help other youths in guiding their own paths.
Our relationships with ourselves and our intimate partners are some of the most important relationships we’ll build. In 2022, our goal is to help youths build and strengthen these bonds. Sending love❣️
Shy’s Intern
I would say that being a part of Shy has truly been an experience that was essential to my life, and it has brought more benefits to my personal life than any other job probably would. It allowed me to learn so much about how to embrace the part of sexual health and wellness in my life — which I was always ashamed of previously due to the nature of the society we live in. Having interacted so much with content on sex-related topics has helped me to shed the stigma I once had around being open about these topics, and it has translated into real life conversations with my friends where we can all talk freely about our experiences and concerns relating to sexual health.
Collaborating and speaking with so many different individuals who we worked with for content pieces has also opened my eyes to all the different ways that sex and love can be expressed, and it has been really interesting to hear so many different stories of people who live outside of the cookie cutter mould of relationships that I was so accustomed to.