Masseuse, Masseur or Massage Therapist? How the Wrong Term Can Insult a Practitioner of Bodywork

Somewhere along the line, the terms masseuse and masseur have come to mean something completely different in the United States. Masseur is from the French word masser – meaning to massage. Masseuse is the feminine of Masseur. They originally were terms used to describe male and female massage therapists and are still widely used around the world.

An Unsavory Association

In the United States these terms have been adopted by escort services and prostitutes that operate under the guise of massage. Due to the increased popularity of these terms being used by sex workers, it is no surprise that real massage therapists would be offended.

Joshua Alexander, a Certified Massage Therapist in California, notes “while the words may connote some level of respect in Europe, I don’t find them respectful to my profession when used in our culture. These words are highly inadequate to communicate my level of education, expertise, professionalism, and scope of practice.”

In recent years masseuses and masseurs have been making the news and dragging the respected profession of massage therapy through the mud:

Other Terms Insulting the Profession of Massage

Some practitioners are also insulted by terms such as rub down and massage parlour. These terms have become synonymous in some areas of the country with those providing services of a sexual nature.

Appropriate Terms for Therapeutic Massage Practitioners

Most clients of bodywork would never wish to insult their practitioner, and some therapists do not mind the occasional misnomer. A Licensed Massage Therapist in South Carolina, Justine notes her preferred title, “I use the term Licensed Massage Therapist. 99% of the time I will gently correct people when they call me a masseuse, but some people truly mean no harm when they say it.” Depending on laws and regulations of a particular state or region, practitioners that provide massage as a therapeutic service may be called one of these terms:

Oct 16, 2008 10:27 AM

Guest :

I am a LMT in Florida and I don't worry about what people call me but I definately don't like being asked for sexual services. Go look at the theraputic and erotic section of your local craigslist and decide for yourself if law enforment is making a dent in the hookers claiming to be massage therapist!

"A nonprofit advocacy group against human sexual trafficking, called the Polaris Project, believes Craigslist is now the single largest source for prostitution, including child exploitation, in the country. The project surveyed all Craigslist pages for apparent prostitutes on Feb. 7 of this year. It identified thousands across the country... " http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=119630091387727500

Nov 4, 2008 11:11 AM

Guest :

Seriously! There is nothing wrong with using correct terminology to describe one's
profession. In fact I believe it shows a distinct lack of pride in one's profession to be so at the whim of both the media and hookers for crying out loud!
Instead of "gently correcting" one's clients one might better spend their energies correcting the media's depiction of the profession. Simply because a few misuse the term as code for "other"services does not actually change the standard English (or French) meaning of the terms massage, masseuse or masseur.

Doctors, chiropractors and lawyers to name a few have retained their nomenclature not because it was politically correct but because it is linguistically correct and therefore expedient to use the words we all know and understand to describe their profession. They too have had their share of notorious deceitful types who were or claimed to be practitioners in these fields. In general people don't like Doctors but if you were hit by a truck that's the first person you'd want to see the next professional would be a lawyer. General public opinion is that Chiropractors are quacks but they sure are doing well, according to the US Dept. of labor the field is growing at 14% (faster than average) with a projected 60,000 employed in the profession by 2016. This whole issue of names and words reminds me of grade school when
the bullies could find a way to mangle anyones name no matter how typical in order to hurt, and make fun of their fellows. We did not get angry at our friends for using our correct names. We did not change our names and give undue power to these bullies instead we avoided or stood up to them eventually out grew the abuse.