Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/108504
W When I was in massage school, my classmates and I spent days and nights learning about the anatomy of the body, memorizing information about bones, muscles, nerves, and organs. Yet there was one body part that was left out—the penis. We didn't talk about it, because as future massage therapists, we certainly weren't going to be touching or massaging that body part. We did discuss erections, but only briefly. Our teachers said if a client has an erection but behaves appropriately, and the therapist feels comfortable continuing with the massage, then the therapist should continue. However, teachers said if the client displays inappropriate behavior, then the therapist is fully entitled to stop the session. This approach and philosophy seemed quite simple and eliminated confusion and worry about future clients for us as students. Yet, after nine years of working as a massage therapist, I have found that what ends up happening to the penis during normal, therapeutic massage can be a topic worthy of discussion. By examining how the penis and erections have been viewed at other times in history, by other cultures, and by science, perhaps we can break through some of our modern American societal taboos surrounding the subject. Beyond Fear and Myth The topic of erections is not only complicated, but also rarely addressed. During therapeutic massage, erections can be annoying, embarrassing, and sometimes ridiculous. I asked other massage therapists in my Portland, Oregon, community about this topic, but received hardly any replies to my questions, so I reached out to other massage therapists across the country. I posted an inquiry on ABMP's social media site, www.massageprofessionals.com, asking how massage therapists deal with the occurrence of erections during therapeutic massages. There are more than 11,000 massage therapists listed as members on this site, which is described as "an open community for all massage therapists." I received responses from 12 massage therapists. Eleven out of the 12 said that as long as the client is displaying appropriate behavior, they ignore erections. One therapist said she has a zero-tolerance policy for erections. Several of the responses, though, bemoaned how erections are still a taboo topic in the professional world of massage. Gerry Bunnell, a massage therapist in Bumpass, Virginia, wrote, "I feel it would do our profession well to have very open and frank conversations about it instead of shying away from the subject over fear of impropriety. It is an extremely important subject that I feel many therapists are not trained to deal with compassionately and appropriately." Our society's view of erections involves fear and myth. A massage therapist who blogs anonymously at The Real Rub—Life as a Massage Therapist writes, "I get asked about erections regularly by both men and women. Fear of getting an erection [during 66 massage & bodywork march/april 2013