Put in the work, and own your pleasure: what a sex educator wants millennials to know
Toronto’s Shan Boodram uses Youtube to help young people navigate sex in an ‘easy-access culture’
Toronto-born sex educator Shan Boodram describes herself as the 'Walmart greeter' of sex and relationships.
With close to 300,000 subscribers on her Youtube channel, Boodram unpacks a new facet of sex, intimacy and relationships every week, taking on everything from pornography addiction to open relationships and how to orgasm more easily.
"I just want to be the person who says "it's okay to research more. It's okay to take an interest in this," she told CBC Toronto.
Boodram, who frequently collaborates with CBC Life, is in Toronto this weekend for Buffer Festival, a four-day fest in which prominent YouTube creators screen new work.
Her Buffer Festival premiere will unpack an issue close to many millennial's hearts: how to get better at online dating.
"You don't have to just leave it up to luck and think it's the worst thing ever and get so discouraged. You can employ tactics just like you would searching for a job," she said of the new video.
Empowering young people to educate themselves about sex and relationships is a large part of what drives Boodram's work.
"The rules aren't as written" for today's young people, who date and hook up in what Boodram describes as an "easy-access culture" brought on by the internet.
"That means you have to have conversations. There are no givens. Millennials have the unique, great responsibility of having to advocate for themselves and their needs."
Her sex philosophy, honed over years of making videos and research for her 2009 book, Laid, begins with encouraging people to accept themselves.
"The number one question I probably get is 'am I normal,'" she said.
"A lot of times were waiting to see if we're okay and normal before we really embrace what makes us feel good."
Boodram says Youtube is a perfect place to spread that message because it takes out the middle man between her and her viewers.
"Especially when it comes to a message like sexuality, it's deeply personal for people and there's already a lot of taboo and confusion around it, I think the less people you have to go to to say what you want to say the better."
Buffer Festival runs until Sunday, with more information on programming available here.