Shan Boodram Talks Sex Education: It's Importance & Why It's Essential

Certified Sex Educator, dating coach, and relationship expert, Shan Boodram really doesn’t need an introduction. She has been covered across television networks across the nation, is a best-selling author, and the host of a new daily show on Quibi titled, Sexology with Shan Boodram. We spoke with our go-to-girl in the sex and dating space to discuss how she got into this field, her exciting new show, and what quarantine life has been for her as a creator.

How did you first get into this realm as a certified sex educator, dating coach, and relationship expert?

In 2004, I went to school on a track scholarship. That was the first time that I felt like I had to have honest conversations about sex. Prior to that, going into high school [in my teens], there was a lot of misinformation. Like many people, I was the by-product of insufficient sex education. It was through these honest conversations that I was having with my teammates when I realized that there was so much power in our stories and truth. It could all be provided if people were more honest about their sex life. I went to school for journalism. In journalism school, they say “Write what you know.” I thought I know sex, I am passionate about it, and I want to speak about it. I ended up devoting myself to that throughout school. When I graduated, my first book was published in 2009. After it came out, I was thrust into the space of being this voice for millennials in terms of the changing landscape we’re facing when it came to our easy access culture. After that, I decided that it wasn’t enough just to share stories. I became a certified sex educator in Canada and after moving to California, I got my Associate in Sex Education and also got certified as a Sexologist in 2016. I’m currently back in school right now to get a degree in Human Development. I think my story really hallmarks that sex education is not a course, it is a devotion and it is a lifelong devotion that I am grateful to still be learning and having my life enriched by.

What inspired the creation of Sexology with Shan Boodram?

It started in 2004. The thought in my mind was sex education is in essence bad sex. Its dry, boring, and does not have life, wetness or pizazz to it. It’s really life-changing knowledge. I saw a need for someone to come in and make sex education sexy, bring it to life, and make it interesting. Whether you’re interested in pursuing it from a scholastic perspective, all of us should be sex experts. It’s something that impacts our lives to some degree. All of us should be relationship experts and sexology is essentially that. Every single day, we’re giving you bite size information. Each episode is five minutes or less surrounding some topic of intimacy. Sex education in school that lasts two weeks is a complete joke. There is so much to talk about and cover. Most importantly, we do it in a fun way. We use real people’s stories. It’s really the story that I told you from the beginning. It’s power in our experiences, its lessons we can learn in spite of or because of learning through someone else’s triumphs or mistakes they may have made. Sexology is a fun conversation that probably mirrors your group chat that you have with your best friends except I provide a bit more structure, guided knowledge, and we have a lot of great guests that provide more guided knowledge that your group chat may have.

How has quarantine life been for you as a creator?

Girl, I got pregnant in February so quarantine life for me has a very specific spin on it. It’s been mass amounts of changes for my body and changes overall. It’s kind of nice in many ways to kind of go through this period with everyone. My husband was saying that usually when you’re pregnant, it’s usually only you as a household that gets to experience the world so differently. In this sense, we’re all going through it together. This year has been wacky for a multitude of people but as a creator, I have noticed a massive uptick in people’s interest and dedication to this topic. It’s unfortunate that many times it takes a tragedy for people to really value what is important but through this time, you’re really starting to see people prioritize intimacy. Whether it’s through sex life, dating life, or relationships, I’m seeing a massive change happen. People are realizing that if this is not taken care of, when nothing else is certain, this is really all that matters.

You are an ambassador for AIDS Healthcare Foundation and WomensHealth.gov, why is this so important to you?

I think it’s important to bring knowledge from the greatest minds of people that study this and have access to laboratories and funding to do so. I’m also a member of the National Coalition for Sexual Health and I partner very frequently with The American Sexual Health Association. I’m still learning stuff so it’s important for me to be a part of these organizations because there’s new information that is coming out all the time. If I am in the know and I’m slightly behind, I cannot imagine how the general population is like. I think it’s important to bring the freshest information from the greatest minds in this space to the average person. I want to be the person that provides general knowledge and can direct people in the right aisles for themselves. I want to help people feel comfortable in this space, meaning its best to know the experts in each aisle that way I can provide the most relevant and recent information to the consumer

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

I would hope more Sexology on Quibi because it is such a joy. I cannot tell you the range of questions that I get DM’d. I now finally have an unlimited resource of information to give them. If someone says they have a hard time lasting long in the bedroom, I’ve got something to point them towards. That to me is where the dream come true us. I’ll put it out there, I hope for more Sexology and thankful that Quibi even greenlit a show like this. I think it’s incredibly revolutionary, again I’ve been in this space for a long time, so I do not take that for granted.