Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/494122
best practices BUSINESS SIDE Same Profession, Different Challenges Overcoming the Hurdles Facing Men and Women in Massage By Les Sweeney, BCTMB, and Kristin Coverly, LMT ABMP members working at franchise clinics 77% 23% ABMP members not working at franchise clinics 85% 15% Overall ABMP membership 83% 17% Are you a male in the bodywork profession? Female? Perfect—this column's for you! Les and Kristin explore the unique challenges facing both male and female therapists today. IT'S (NOT) A MAN'S MAN'S MAN'S WORLD Les Sweeney: In 1966, the year I was born, James Brown recorded "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," a song that was characterized by Rolling Stone as "biblically chauvinistic" but nonetheless was ranked number 123 of the 500 greatest songs of all time (and later achieved true immortality when featured on the show Glee). The massage therapy profession is not a man's world. That is a common notion that has been expressed to me, and generally held, since the time I began working in the fi eld in 1994. About one in six massage professionals are male, a number that has stayed fairly consistent over the past 20 years. Interestingly, when I look at our ABMP membership data, approximately 23 percent of therapists working at franchise massage clinics are male, while only 15 percent of members who do not work at franchise massage clinics are male. Male Female