International Woman's Day

The last 12 months have been a period of reflection for so many people, including us all at Massage Me. We have had time both personally and professionally to really think about our core values. Early 2020, we put together our Massage Me agenda to try to identify our core values. One of those was identifying that we want to support and promote equality for all.

This month is Women’s History Month and International Woman’s Day is next week on the 8th March. So this seems like a perfect time to explore how we can help contribute to gender equality in our communities.

IWD provides an important moment to showcase commitment to women's equality, launch new initiatives and action, celebrate women's achievements, raise awareness, highlight gender parity gains and more.

The day is celebrated and supported globally by industry, governments, educational institutions, community groups, professional associations, women's networks, charities and non-profit bodies, the media and more.

Collectively every person and all groups can make a difference within their sphere of influence by taking concrete action to help build a more gender equal world. From small powerful grassroots gatherings to large-scale conference and events - International Women's Day is celebrated everywhere. It's a big day for inspiration and change.

WWW.INTERNATIONALWOMANSDAY.COM

IWD & Massage Me

Working in the health and wellbeing - specifically the massage industry, we find ourselves in one of the unique places where women are more requested than men. Generally, female clients prefer female therapists, and male clients also prefer female therapists. That is until someone wants physiotherapy or a “hard” sports massage. Then the requests for male therapists increase dramatically.

Why is there a Preference for Female Therapists?

Undoubtedly, when receiving a massage from a therapist, we are almost naked with someone using their touch to relax and heal us. It is a level of intimacy with a “stranger” that is unusual for most people.

When a client books a massage, often a million questions can run through their head when thinking about who will deliver the message :

Will a female therapist be strong enough? Will they mind that I haven’t shave my legs? Will they judge my body? Will the therapist be attractive? Will a male therapist be nurturing/gentle enough? Will the therapist think I’m gay? Will I feel safer with a male/female therapist?

There are then some religious and cultural considerations, with some religions prohibiting contact between the opposite genders when not blood related or related by marriage.

When these questions run through a client’s head, the response often leans towards female therapists. However, the most basic answer to the first set of questions is that massage therapists are professionals. Our therapists are honestly more interested in understanding the muscles and tissues within your body - and then helping you solve them!

At Massage Me, we want to focus on the quality of our wellbeing and massage services and less on our therapist’s gender. However, there is no denying that there is a higher demand for female therapists. Whilst in some lights this can be seen as a positive aspect of the massage industry for female therapists, lets then move onto the second topic we wanted to discuss - why is it that within a profession where a person has sometimes studied and trained for years; a profession that is recognised as a medical service in several countries - is still perceived to be providing some sexual service?

Choose to Challenge

Moving along with the theme of International Women’s Day, we #ChooseToChallenge this. We raise our hands in solidarity and support with all those who identify as women, and we want to ask, why is this?

Why are female therapists sexualised?

Fact: In the UK, during the Covid pandemic, wellbeing and massage locations were some of the last to open in summer 2020 and are again closed because the government still referred to them as massage “parlours”. The image to the right shows the information you get if you Google the term “massage parlour” today (March 2nd, 2021).

Why is ‘Masseuse’ or ‘Massage Parlour’ Problematic?

The word masseuse (masseur - male) used to be the standard term for a massage therapist, much like flight attendants used to be called flight attendants. However, the term has fallen out of use in the massage industry as it became associated with the sex industry.

When this term is used, simply put, it makes therapists feel very uncomfortable. By using it, you undermine their professional skills and imply that their chosen career is somehow part of a promiscuous or flighty lifestyle.

All our Massage Me therapists, whether holistic, sports, yoga, pilates or Physio, have studied at recognised and accredited schools. Most, if not all, of our team, continue to train regularly to keep their skills up to date. This includes working with Massage Me, where we provide massage mentors and regular staff training and CPD courses.

If the UK’s legal policies, Covid guidelines and search engines choose to refer to our industry with this terminology and therefore label the professionals within it with this description, then it is time for some reeducation and some change.

What Can We Do?

At Massage Me, we are firm believers in education and communication. If we feel that the conversation needs to change, who will change it if we don’t change it?

If reading this article has made you think a little about how you think of well-being professionals and helped you change some of the words you use to talk about massages, you become part of the change. Together, we can impact the world around us and make our surrounding communities that bit more inclusive, equal and safer for all.

Where do we go from here?

At the end of all this, the bottom line is that we want our clients to feel as comfortable as possible when they receive their massage - from a Massage Me therapist or any other massage provider. However, during Women’s History Month and with IWD on the 8th March, we felt that this might be a good time to see if we can open some people’s minds, help them to question some underlying biases and see if we can begin to change some stereotypes.

At Massage Me, we find that the more massages a client receives - either with us or another operation - the more their understanding of the service and mutual trust is built.

We then often find that when asked if they would prefer a male or female therapist, the response is more likely to be: “A sports therapist please” or “A relaxing massage specialist please”. This is fantastic as we can provide the perfect therapist to assist our clients in the best way.