Shannon T. Boodram on Writing About Sex

Shannon T. Boodram is a Toronto-based writer, photographer and host whose projects often touch on sex and relationships. A profile from the early 2010s captured her at a busy stage of her career, with several books and online features in progress.

The profile is useful as a window into how a young Canadian media figure approached sexuality as a subject for education and storytelling.

The book LAID

Her book LAID, released the previous autumn, gathers first-hand narratives from people aged 18 to 25 across North America. Each contributor describes an experience from early adulthood that they believe other readers might learn from.

The book carries a clear stance on consent and desire. Its stance is that sex is not an obligation and is governed by wanting rather than duty. In this view, sexuality is part of overall wellbeing instead of something that competes with work or other priorities.

Other projects

At the time, Boodram was writing a work about relations between women of different generations, especially mothers and daughters, along with a novel. She also co-ran a blog called Those Girls Are Wild with a collaborator. The site aimed to reclaim the word wild without the wet t-shirt contests and g-strings the term often brings to mind. Its first feature examined vitiligo, a condition affecting skin pigmentation.

Work with audiences

Boodram wrote about sex for both education and entertainment, and she visited schools and community centres to hold open conversations. She said she did not plan to move further into the field through formal study or hands-on work, and preferred to build a career as what she called a 360 journalist, someone working across print, photography, video and broadcast.

Views on sexuality

Asked about her own outlook, she described sexuality as inseparable from the body and emotions, rather than something that sits apart. She was wary of overthinking sex, arguing that doing so can turn it into a manipulation tactic or drain away the freeing, stress-free quality she associates with it. For her, sex is an emotional response, and her sexual persona is rooted in honest feeling.

She also remarked that sex is a great equalizer, since nearly everyone is made in a similar way, and said that writing and talking about it with friends is a source of inspiration.