Both men and women choose massage therapy for careers, but one has a much easier time getting clients. Yep, this is one field in which women actually have an easier time achieving success. Why? It is certainly not that women have superior massage skills and men fall short, nor is it that women work twice as hard--in fact it is the exact opposite. Both male and female therapists face obstacles, but the vast majority that men face are more preconceived notions or client comfort levels and these obstacles are not easily overcome.
Lots of people have body images issues and getting naked or disrobing down to the tightie whities can be very uncomfortable for some folks. While men are concerned with their physiques, women seemingly put more emphasis on their looks so undressing in the presence of a man puts additional pressure on them. That little pooch that we get after childbirth, the extra 15 pounds we just cannot seem to drop, things that used to set up higher and now sag lower, cellulite dimples....in our minds these are attributes that we would prefer the opposite sex not get to see up close and personal. So male therapists will invariably lose female clients due to their modesty and body image concerns.
Male therapists are generally stronger than females so this also causes them to lose clients. Many clients think that a male therapist will hurt them with all the Herculean strength they are packing. Never mind that therapists are trained to gauge their pressure and check in with the client to make sure they are not in pain. "They have big muscles ergo they might hurt me" is the mindset. I have seen a female therapist leave bruises on clients and I have received massages from males that felt like they were just petting me. The truth is that both men and women are capable of hurting clients, but male therapists seem to get more bad press and business will be lost simply because they are male.
Another reason male therapists struggle in building a client base is that men generally prefer a female therapist--they are battling their own sex! Men tell me that they prefer a softer touch and they are not really comfortable having another man rub them. I have heard horror stories from men that braved it and had a male therapist.....arm hair that felt like steel wool, booking appointments with Goldie and Angel only to find out that they were guys, junk bumping their heads, etc. The fellas all tell me that they are not homophobic but they just are not as comfortable with a male therapist and if you are looking for relaxation you should go with what relaxes you.
Personally I prefer a male therapist for a couple of reasons. One being that they are able to give me deep pressure if I need it, and secondly they have bigger hands and some massage strokes feel better when they are broader sweeps. My body image concerns do not matter in my massage as I know that massage therapists are taught to have unconditional positive regard. What does this mean? It means that we look at bodies without judgment and hold you in a positive light. Male or female, it means we see YOU.
So why not live on the edge and in the words of one of my clients "see the dude".
No comments:
Post a Comment