Sex Columns in Canadian Media

Sex columns have been a fixture of Canadian newspapers and alternative weeklies since the late twentieth century, giving readers a recurring public space for frank discussion. Columnists in the genre often work across several media at once, producing newspaper columns, books, blogs, radio segments, television appearances and public talks, and their careers can span many years.

A career across media

Many sexuality writers have moved from print to online publishing, and books now reach readers as ebooks, a format that opened a route beyond bookstores. Subjects range from dating and relationships to light-hearted guides to etiquette in sexual situations and books for couples with limited time or energy. Writers in the genre frequently describe a wish for material that is funny, intelligent and frank without becoming so academic that readers lose interest.

Why the subject keeps drawing writers

Columnists often describe sex as a topic that people are simultaneously obsessed with and afraid of, one that remains partly mysterious, brings both pleasure and pain, and swings between exhilaration and boredom. For a writer, that complexity is endlessly productive. Some also say the scale of the topic is intimidating, to the point where plain, simple truths about it seem out of reach, a modest stance in a genre that sometimes trades on certainty.

Research for the work typically involves reading, interviewing experts and sometimes attending community events, such as awareness and fundraising activities held in several cities.

Influences

Sex writers name a wide circle of influences, from essayists and humorists to actors, comedians and figures from the sexuality-education field. Many cite earlier columnists and sex educators as models for tone, combining plain language with humour and a willingness to discuss subjects that other media treat cautiously.

The sex column as a genre

Question-and-answer columns on sex draw both praise and criticism. Supporters say they provide information to readers who might otherwise lack access to frank material, while critics question the qualifications of columnists and the limits of a few hundred words. Whatever the verdict, the format helped normalize public discussion of sexuality in Canadian media, and many columnists later moved into books, blogs and podcasts.

From print to digital

The decline of print advertising reshaped the genre. Alternative weeklies cut back or closed, and many writers moved to self-publishing, newsletters and social media. Readers now encounter sexuality commentary alongside health information from public agencies, and the quality and accuracy of that commentary vary, since columns are opinion and personal experience and not medical guidance.