Wait, That Was Sex?

From Dafna Izenberg, features editor:

Last spring, a friend said to Cathrin Bradbury: “You should write ‘What is sex?’"

At first Bradbury thought: no way. It was an impossible question to answer. And yet, everywhere she looked, it was being interrogated: on TV, in books, in magazine articles about younger generations not having enough of it or having the most ever. Is sex different as we cusp the quarter-century mark, she wondered. Has it changed? And where do boomers fit in? With up to thirty years of living left in these days of longevity, what kind of sex lives can seventysomethings look forward to?

In the cover story of the next issue of The Walrus, with her signature wit and wisdom, Bradbury recounts her candid conversations with friends of many ages—from 23 to 73—about porn, politics, and penetration, whether you can have sex with the wind, and Sam Rockwell’s “Thai Girl” soliloquy from The White Lotus.

Read the Story

You help get the intimate details right

As an editorial fellow, I was tasked with fact-checking Bradbury’s story. It was an exciting opportunity, and I immediately thought: “How do I fact-check people on their sex lives?”

Every time you do this process for a story, there are unique challenges. Even if a feature isn’t about sexual intimacy, you’re still getting intensely personal with people in the checking process. You’re dealing with their lives, their memories, their unique perspectives. You need to approach every source with a combination of empathy and journalistic rigour.

You help us do that. At The Walrus, every original feature we put out is fact-checked thoroughly. By donating to us, you join our partners and sponsors in supporting our editorial fellowships.

Thank you for your donation to The Walrus.

— Amarah Hasham-Steele

Power Corporation of Canada Fellow

What Is Sex? Ask a Boomer, a Millennial, and a Gen Z and They’ll All Say Something Different

You help get the intimate details right