Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72093
Masseuse/Masseur Masseuse and masseur, originally French words for those who practice massage, were commonly used in the United States until the latter half of the 20th century. During that time, the term massage parlor came into use as a euphemism for a house of prostitution, eventually causing the more antiquated gender-specific terms to fall away in favor of more neutral terms like massage therapist. However, many practitioners still identify with—or at the very least, tolerate—the older titles of masseuse and masseur. "I have worked with 1880 1890 1900 masseuse masseur 0.000001 0.000002 0.000004 1910 0.0000065 1920 0.000009 1930 0.0000065 1940 0.0000065 0.000005 they call me their masseur,0.000008 I'm honored. In their cultures, Massage Titles This graph shows the occurrence rates for the terms masseuse, masseur, and 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008 0.000007 0.00000975 0.000009 0.0000095 0.000011 0.000009 0.000009 0.0000002 0.000002 0.000012 0.000015 massage therapist in English-language books from 1880–2008. It contains data from the Google Books Ngram Viewer,* (http://books.google.com/ngrams) masseuse 0.000016% 0.000012% 0.000012 0.000014 0.000016 0.000008% 0.000004% 0.000002 0.000004 0.000006 0.000008 0.00001 0.000000% 0 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 * Jean-Baptiste Michel et al., "Quantitative Analysis of Culture Using Millions of Digitized Books," Science (Published online ahead of print: December 2010). Celebrate ABMP's 25th anniversary and you may win a refund on your membership. ABMP.com. 19 mp Make sure you connect with us to get your voice heard in next issue's Tell Me … www.facebook.com/ABMPpage @ABMPmassage http://abmp.us/LinkedInMT www.massageprofessionals.com masseur massage therapist which tracks word and phrase usage trends over time. nearly 30 years and when0.000009 0.000004 0.000007 1950 elite European athletes for 1960 0.0000045 that is an esteemed moniker," says John Balletto, past president of the Massage Therapy Foundation. Daniel Cohen from California 0.000001 0.000005 0.000009 0.00001 0.000013 0.000011 0.00001 0.000009 massage therapist 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 says: "All I care about is that they speak positively, make appointments regularly, and refer me to their friends—other than that they can call me anything they like. Actually, I do find it disconcerting to be called a masseuse. Look at me people, I'm a guy," he says. "The only things that can hurt us are the things that we give power," says massage therapist Paul Brown from Sacramento, California. "I don't care about trying to educate the public on silly things like this, but instead focus on providing top-notch service and bodywork. That's how we change minds and attitudes." "You can usually tell the person's intent when they call you a masseur. And the intent is almost always innocent. Personally, life is too short to be offended by those words. Now, if they call me old ..." Gary Markley, California "When I was working in the South (Alabama and Tennessee) everyone I ever met referred to me as a massage therapist … I never was really referred to as a masseuse until moving out here to the West Coast (San Diego). Everyone here uses that term." Rajam K. Roose, California I call myself a massage therapist, but I also do craniosacral therapy and myofascial release—so in reality I have no idea what to call myself! Bodyworker is harder to explain than masseuse!" Therese Schwartz, Oklahoma OCCURRENCE RATE IN ENGLISH-ONLY BOOKS tidbits