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Masseuse? Masseur? Massage Therapist? What's in a name?!
What do you call a person who performs massage professionally?
Does it depend if they are male or female ("Masseur"/"Masseuse")? Where they work (Massage Parlor/ Massage Clinic)? Or should we simply use the unisex term "Massage Therapist"?
There continues to be an ongoing debate within the massage field about the appropriate use of the above terms, some of which certain massage professionals may actually find quite insulting!
Masseuse and Masseur are both French words, and both are gender specific. While many English speakers commonly misinterpret the gender connotations, Masseuse is a female term and Masseur is male. These terms are, and have for a long time been used quite commonly in Europe without any negative association.
The terms were also used, and perfectly acceptable, going back many years here in The United States. However, as the licensed therapeutic massage profession began to gain more credibility starting about 20 to 30 years ago, it started to rub up against (no pun intended) the non-therapeutic "massage parlors" - those little storefronts with the red neon lights in the blacked-out windows, where the practitioners are more likely to be referred to as "masseuses", and "happy endings" are a lot different than the kind you'll find in any fairy tale!
This resulted in many therapeutic massage practitioners feeling the need to make a distinction between the vastly different kinds of services being offered at massage parlors on the one hand, and therapeutic massage establishments on the other. It also caused anyone associated with a legitimate licensed massage establishment to loathe having it be referred to as a "massage parlor".
As a result of these factors, combined with the general trend over the past 20 years of favoring generic unisex terms such as Administrative Assistant (Secretary), Flight Attendant (Stewardess), etc., more and more therapists began to prefer the term "Massage Therapist". These days, "Massage Therapist" is widely accepted in the industry as the preferred term for those practicing therapeutic massage. The fate of the term "massage parlor" is even more certain, and most licensed therapists would say it should be reserved exclusively for the neon-light places.
For me personally, I'm not particularly bothered when someone uses a term like Masseur because I know it's not intentionally being used in any degrading way. Many older folks are more accustomed to this term from before it ever became remotely controversial. My own father has many times referred to me as a "masseur"! Yet some therapists are hyper-sensitive to the issue, and may even take some offense. I guess it's a "touchy" subject for them. (Sorry, couldn't resist).
Bottom line; it's probably best to get in the habit of using the term "Massage Therapist" if you can help it, but even more important is to make a point of receiving therapeutic massage on a regular basis for the sake of your own well being!
In Health,
Daniel Melmed, L.M.T.
Owner, Body Well