The need for Male Massage Therapists
The massage profession is predominately made up of women. ABMP reports that close to 83 percent are women. I have written about this topic before and there always seems to be more to be said about this. We need more men to be massage therapists!
Men are often intimidated in choosing a massage career. There are stories of men being discriminated against at spas or clinics with receptionists first asking if the caller wants a female or male massage therapist. The stigma is that women won’t want a male because they are intimidated by men or may have a past issue with men and they are untrusting of men. Men don’t want to be massaged by men thinking that the male massage therapist must be gay or that they will be thought of in less then favorable ways if they go to a male massage therapist. So who is left to go to a male massage therapist?
I for one am in a phase of only going to male massage therapists right now. The thing like the best is that men don’t seem to get caught up as much in some of the boundary issues that women do. Women seem to want to chat about everything and they want to offer all of their suggestions for healing or eating right or whatever it is when I just want a massage. I guess I have had male massage therapists talk the whole time too but I seem to find more male massage therapists who are just there to do the massage.
Working with a male massage therapist also helps teach us that males can be nurturing which can be good for either sex- female or male.
I have had males calling seeking male massage therapists (and not for a gay male exchange). Men have been hurt by women and men too so that a male working with a male massage therapist can receive the healing around gender issues that they need too.
Share you stories about working with male massage therapists by posting here. Posting on blogs is also a good way to get back links to your website which in turn helps you get a better Page Rank with Google.
What other issues are there in working with male massage therapists? How can we support men in choosing a career in massage? What do men need to know before choosing this career?
See also:
Male issues discussed at www.thebodyworker.com
The Male Massage Therapist -www.male-massage-therapist.com
May 15th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Thanks for the great article! Having been in massage in central California for over 20 years I endured the issues of gender at a local spa. I would be on call for one day and when all the rooms were full of female therapists, there was no work for me. The spa would have three females and one male on shift. One of my colleagues figured out that men did approximately 25% of the massages! There was one job at a tennis resort where the massages were segregated, we were only allowed to work on men.
After going into private practice I found it best to work in the sports and therapeutic side. I worked for two males docs:am MD and a DC. I had a good run there until the insurance industry stopped allowing massages.
Now that I’ve had my own office for over 10 years, I have succeeded in establishing myself. I get many referrals from male MDs, PTs, etc. I have about a 70 percent female clientele and I rarely have gender issues. Many people come to see me because I have a great skill set, communicate clearly and have excellent boundaries. Many of these skills I had to learn and they are as important as my massage techniques. I have a couple of clients that come for relaxation, most are working with PTs or other providers and need more therapeutic work.
I would say that men need to learn listening and communication skills as well as boundaries. It is important to be impeccable with your work and constantly evaluate your practice.
Cheers,
Jody Hutchinson,ncmtb
May 15th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I appreciate this article, and completely agree with it. I have to admit, I was also apprehensive about working with men when I first started working as a massage therapist. I had to learn in class, and then through our school’s public clinic. I have come to almost prefer working with men, and women who are active. I am nervous about going into the field, looking at spas and preferrably sports and therapeutic areas, knowing that I am a male therapist who won’t be shown the love. Despite the skills.
Thank you, Jody, for your response. Communication and rapport building are now more important than ever.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:43 am
An innteresting perspective you mention about the boundary issues involved in conversation while on the table (female therapist vs male therapists). I had not considered that, but I believe you are right now that I look back at my own experiences.
As usual, i thank you for the inbound link.
Sean
May 28th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I also agree that it would be great to have more men in the industry. However, I think it is essential for schools to forewarn men about the difficulties they will face as therapists. There are many men and many women who are still uncomfortable receiving massage from a man. It may take a little longer to build up a regular clientèle.
As the owner of a massage facility, you have to walk a fine line when scheduling clients with a male therapist. Obviously, you don’t want to dissuade a client from going to a male massage therapist, but you don’t want an angry client walking out because they didn’t know they would be having a male therapist.
I believe the issue of conversation during the massage should be addressed through training at the spa facility. Neither men OR women should be subjecting a client to unwanted conversation during a treatment!
May 28th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I think that ‘forewarning’ men is part of the problem. It sort of creates the whole problem. You can educate men as to the issues that they will be faced with but ‘forewarning’ them is setting them up for failure - at least that is what I think.
The thing is that many places do dissuade clients from seeing a male massage therapist just by the way they do ask - like they ask with a descending voice - Do you want a male or female?
I also think spas train people not to talk more but if a massage therapist is just working for themselves they tend to just talk more.
Julie