Shan Boodram: Redefining Intimacy for the Modern World

At a time when sexual education was scarce, Shan Boodram was one of the few personalities who stood to take the task upon them. Thankfully, her impactful teachings have made marks in the lives of many over the years. 

As a renowned sexologist, dating coach, and author, Boodram spread her teaching to individuals and couples with sexual, dating, and relationship challenges. Her teachings are spread through different social media channels, majorly YouTube and Facebook.

Besides this, Boodram is a host on the popular show MTV's "Guide to sex" and Quibi's "Sexology with Shan Boodram". She is also the author of the bestselling book "The Game of Desire: 5 Surprising Secrets to Dating with Dominance and Getting What You Want," and "Laid: Young People's Experience with Sex." 

Her YouTube channel, which goes by the name "Shan Boody", has garnered over 40 million views. 

Early Life and Influences 

Shannon was born to an East Indian father and a Black Dominican mother and raised in Toronto, Canada, where she spent most of her childhood life. 

Her early life experience shaped her career choice and made her who she is today. She described herself as a little girl who craved to understand the dynamics of sex as a teenager. 

At the age of 19, Shannon noticed limited access to sex education resources, which fuelled her inspiration to do her research about sex and relationships. Her research ushered her into writing her first book, "The Laid", a 2009 book that focuses on sex education. 

Undoubtedly, her passion for sex education also inspired her choice of discipline at the University of Toronto, which saw her into becoming a sex education counselor through the university's certification program. 

Shan continued her education by attending the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in California, where she earned an associate's degree in sex education to strengthen her knowledge about her interests and career. 

The Game of Desire

The Game of Desire, a bestselling book by Shan, touches on several aspects of dating and relationships and opens readers' eyes to the best way to date effectively. 

Her approach to attraction and seduction differs from traditional views. For example, she encourages readers to cultivate the habit of self-desire rather than chasing external validation. Readers also learn how vulnerability and openness can help foster connection, a practice that tilts away from common practices. 

A few other takeaways from the book include:

Learning about Yourself: if you don't understand yourself, it is quite difficult to be in a relationship. You must know who you are and what you want from a relationship to communicate your needs and desires to your partner. 

Identify Strength and Weakness: In the Game of Desire, Boodram emphasizes the need to take charge of one's relationship, which is only possible by identifying one's strengths and weaknesses. The book encourages readers to address weaknesses for effective dating. 

Attract and Retain Partners: it is one thing to attract a partner, while it is another to retain them. The Game of Desires empowers her audience with the right technique to attract the partner they desire and how to keep them for a long-term relationship. 

Build Knowledge: Shan, through her book, also touches on acquiring knowledge about love language, sex culture and romance psychology. Partners must understand each other's love language and practice it. 

Similarly, being in a relationship involves discerning dating myths from facts, as treating myths as facts can be detrimental to the relationship's health. 

Make Up or Break Up

Make Up or Break Up is a popular relationship show hosted by Shan Boodram on Facebook Watch. It is a show that helps partners with crises in their relationship decide if to "make up or break up." 
On each episode of the show, Shan hosts a couple with relationship challenges and is considering divorce/breakup. She counsels the couples in front of a live audience in the studio and extends the opportunity to contribute to viewers. 

Viewers contribute to the show through the comment section and predict the couple's future based on their story using the hashtags #MakeUp or #BreakUp. 

Make Up or Break Up has helped many relationships decide the next step of action when they seem not to understand where their relationship is headed. Overall, the show has recorded a huge success by helping couples identify their weakness and reconnect.