Law School graduate, believed she had no preference, until one experience changed her mind.īut Jay Anthony, a guest services counselor at the Ashram retreat in Calabasas, Calif., said he had seen guests gravitate toward male therapists over the course of their stay. Islam also forbids a man to touch a woman who is not in his family, even with a barrier.īut in most cases, massage therapists say, clients choose a masseuse because of their own comfort level and biases.Įven women who see themselves as open-minded prefer a woman to give them a massage. The concept of negiah, practiced by Orthodox Jews, restricts physical contact between those of opposite genders who are not related by blood or marriage.
American and Middle Eastern women tend to ask for masseuses, while Europeans often don’t care either way, said Sandra Sadowski, the spa director at the Ritz-Carlton in New York, which has a large international clientele.Ĭertain religions also dictate whether a client picks a male or female therapist.
Indeed, 85 percent of massage therapists in the United States are women, according to the American Massage Therapy Association.īut culture and nationality also play a role. “Seventy percent of spa-goers are female, and there are more female therapists, so it makes sense that this would be the preference,” she said. Lynne McNees, president of the International Spa Association, attributes it to basic numbers.
Most women ask for female massage therapists, spa managers say.