Why You Should Never Call a Massage Therapist ‘Masseuse’
Over the past six years, we’ve been lucky enough to work with thousands of great massage therapy professionals. And since launching Zeel Spa® in November 2016 — Zeel’s spa staffing platform to fulfill last-minute massage bookings — we’ve also been fortunate to work with spa directors across the country. By doing so, we have learned one key fact: massage therapists are undervalued professionals.
There’s a misconception that being a massage therapist is a frivolous pursuit. However, we at Zeel can attest to the fact that it is a challenging and demanding career that gives back to so many people. It’s also a career that requires a license in virtually every state in the US, only received after years of study and preparation.
At Zeel, our lifeblood is our team of exceptional massage therapists. We have constructed the best technology and app for massage therapists, and we work with them in over 65 cities around the US. But we don’t have a company unless we can find and work with the best licensed massage therapists (LMTs) in the business.
Despite the increasing recognition of massage in wellness and health, and the years of training, practice, and customer care required, massage therapists continue to be undervalued — both in earnings and professional respect.
The problematic term used for therapists
We think this attitude is crystallized in the use of one word: masseuse.
We can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard our massage therapists being called masseuses. This word makes massage therapists very uncomfortable. Masseuse used to be the standard term for female massage therapists (and masseur for male massage therapists), just as female flight attendants were once called stewardesses. However, in the 1980s, the term fell out of use in the massage industry, as it came to be associated with sex work.
It’s doubly important to avoid this inappropriate connotation for Zeel Massage Therapists, because they frequently travel to customers’ homes and hotel rooms. (This issue informs one of the reasons Zeel provides best-in-class security for our massage therapists, ID-verifying all customers upon signup.)
One of our licensed Zeel Massage Therapists in Charleston, South Carolina, Lizzie Ford, shares, “I feel that, along with the majority of massage therapists, the term ‘masseuse’ is outdated; it brings a negative connotation to the public, and it implies a promiscuous lifestyle. I fully believe in being an advocate for health and wellness, and that’s just one of the reasons why we are therapists, not masseuses.
Whenever I find myself conversing with someone who uses the term ‘masseuse,’ I politely inform him or her how we dislike it, and I explain why.”
This excerpt is from an article originally published on the Zeel Blog. Read the article in full here.
