How to Know When Massage Is Becoming Inappropriate
You must let your guard down to receive a massage. You are relaxed and often at least partially naked. So you need to be sure that your massage therapist doesn’t make you uncomfortable or (even worse) sexually assaults you. But it does happen, as 180 clients of Massage Envy recently told Buzzfeed . So let’s talk about what to expect from a massage.
Any massage should start with a conversation with the therapist, and that conversation should include where you want and what you don’t want to be touched, reports Elizabeth Yuko at SheKnows . If you are discussing a “full body” massage, it is about your buttocks, but not your breasts or genitals. And you can still declare any part of the body prohibited. You might feel uncomfortable when the therapist touches your butt, or maybe your feet are just really tickling. This is completely normal.
You do not need to be completely nude, and in some places you may even need to wear underwear. Regardless of which area of the body is not being massaged, it should be covered with a sheet, either tightly wrapped or loosely draped.
So how do you know if your therapist isn’t in the know? It’s always when you don’t like what’s going on. If you ask them not to touch your butt and they insist on touching it anyway, that’s not okay. If they refuse to talk about comfort zones or are trying to get you to do something you don’t want to do, you have the right to say, “No thanks, we are not doing this today.” You always have the option to go out during the massage if you feel uncomfortable.
At this point, you probably want to talk to your manager about what happened and ask another therapist the next time. But what if things get more serious? Massage Envy customers who spoke to Buzzfeed said they were unsure of what to do after the attack. You can consider any or all of these options: speak to a manager, contact the police, or see a therapist at your state’s massage board. Massage therapists are licensed in 46 states, and you can find the contact information for state councils here .
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