Word Out 2010

Unlike my other posts, this one is slightly more serious, and I've been trying to figure how I'm going to blog about Laid: Young People's Experience with Sex in an Easy Access Culture all summer.

Talking about sex isn't easy or the most comfortable thing to do; but it ought to be.  (I mean, we are all a product of it.)  Blogging about sex, especially for work, add another dimension of pressure. I've edited this thing too much with thoughts of "Was that joke too risque?" or "am I being too graphic" But then again, in some ways, this is exactly what the editor of Laid , Shannon Boodram, was trying to get across.  Talking about sex shouldn't be as taboo as society makes it out to be.

I remember trying to get information about sex when I was a teen.  I was really shy, awkward with a horrible stutter, and talking to people was already a traumatic experience. 

Talking to my mom was OUT of the question; the thought of it still makes me cringe. *shivers with horror.*

Couldn't talk to my friends, because.. honestly, what did they know? 

School was no help to me either, because my gym teacher spent the bulk of our sex ed class chastising us for giggling every time we heard the words, penis, vagina, etc. etc.

Anyway, I normally went to the library to find stuff out, but these trips had to be planned and prepped with no room for errors.  Top on my list was that I had to perfect my "yea-that's-right-I'm-trying-to-get-information-about-sex-SO WHAT" face. If the face including me turning a violent shade of crimson, then I rocked that look every time.

Sooooo those trips didn't go as well as I planned, and I chickened out most of the times…ok…every time.  I didn't really get over my hang up until I went away to University and started working for a Professor.

A little background on me:
Before I started working for the Toronto Public Library, I used to work for the Pride Library at the University of Western Ontario.  The Pride Library aimed to be as open and as accessible as humanly possible.  The Director of the Library, Dr James Miller, was a pioneering gay father of three during the 1980s, an AIDS activist and an advocate for gay rights on the Western campus; he's had a profound impact on my life and my career path.

James Miller envisioned a space where people could not only come together and learn about their own sexuality, but also and a place where they could gathered and shared their own stories.

While working there, I saw students from all backgrounds sitting around on those ugly, but really comfy green couches and talking about things that we normally couldn't discuss at home.  All at once it was heartwarming, and sad; I heard stories about being closeted in their home countries, stories of acceptance, rejection, love, breakups, homophobia, racism, and everything in between.  I don't think that I could justify the feeling in a blog. 

To put it simply, that space was a home to me.  Shannon Boodram, unknowingly, recreated that same sense of a safe space with her book.

Laid: Young People's Experience with Sex in an Easy Access Culture is a collection of stories, poems, and interview with young people on a variety of topics:  First times, discovery of sexual orientation, those who decided to keep their virginity, STI, etc.

This is not a "how-to" book or a book preaching about abstinence or pre-marital sex.  This book is meant to retell people's real experiences, and I think that's what makes this book so powerful.  The one thing I learned working at Pride was the importance of being free to tell your own story and not being afraid of asking the important questions.  If you have any questions, please visit the link below.

RAMP- Sexual Health

Please be on the look for an interview with Shannon Boodram later on this week. 

Tatted Librarian aka Adele is a proud ex-Pride Librarian who misses those ugly green couches, the big Q table, and flipping through Fantabulosa with James for the word of the day.