The View Attacks Massage Therapy

So Twitter was all lit up recently about some comments that were made on The View, the popular ABC morning talk show, regarding allegations that have been made against Al Gore by a massage therapist from an instance that occurred back in 2006.

I am really not interested in all the salacious details surrounding these allegations, nor am I all that interested in what either party has to say regarding that instance.  What I am interested in are the clearly ignorant and uneducated comments that were made by the hosts and their guests during the “Hot Topics” portion of their June 24, 2010 episode.

The ridiculous comments made by Elisabeth Hasselbeck seriously have me believing that she has to be the most ignorant of them all!  She starts by saying that this story is “a good message in terms of massage, because massage always has potential to go wrong”, “you’re like one push away from something really weird happening at all times”.  She then goes on to tell a story of ordering an in-home massage for her husband and, in her words, “there’s this, like, hot chick coming to give Tim a massage!”  She says that the massage therapist was “fantastic, really nice” and ends her story by stating how uncomfortable her husband was because “he knew how pissed I was because she kept music going and I’m the other room”.

Never once does Elisabeth say that the massage therapist presented herself in a sexual fashion, nor does she state that the massage therapist offered anything other than a professional massage therapy session.  Instead, this story showed the viewers that her real problem with that massage was that she was pregnant and unhappy that the therapist who came happened to be pretty.

The guest host, I don’t even know who he is, although he looks vaguely familiar, makes the equally ignorant comment that ” a 1-hour massage, alright, you’re teetering.  A 3-hour massage, you’re diving in headfirst.”  He finishes by saying “nothing good happens after the first hour of massage”!

There is nothing that can be said regarding that kind of ignorant attempt at making a joke and garnering laughter at the expense of so many innocent, hard-working healthcare professionals.

As a television viewer and bona fide news junkie, I have never been terribly fond of this show.  I occasionally watch it, but the extremely biased, opinionated comments that the hosts frequently rant are simply off-putting to me.  After this, I will certainly not watch this show again!

The hosts and their guests are clearly far more interested in getting ratings, using the adage that “sex sells” by furthering the extremely misguided viewpoint that massage and sex are linked.  I have been practicing massage therapy for 6 years and have focused my practice on women who are interested in seeking better health and wellness.  I am one of a very small number of massage therapists in my area who are certified in prenatal massage.  I have worked with women who find regular massage therapy to be extremely beneficial in decreasing the excruciating symptoms of fibromyalgia, and many women who use regular massage therapy sessions to help combat the physical effects of everyday stress and tension in their bodies.  Multiple studies have shown massage therapy to be an effective treatment for arthritis, chronic headaches, back pain and other similar ailments.  Prenatal massage has been shown to be effective in helping women cope with the physical and hormonal changes their bodies undergo during pregnancy.  Even infants benefit from massage, as shown by studies proving massage to be a huge factor in the ability of premature infants to gain weight, improve digestion, and decrease respiratory problems.

When I was in massage school, we were taught how to properly market our services to avoid being associated with any kind of sexual advertisements and how to protect ourselves from people who may try to imply that massage should include sexual favors.  It is unfortunate and infuriating that a show that is this popular and which has the potential to do so much good would resort to encouraging this type of mis-information.  Not only does it continue to mar my beloved profession, but it also puts all massage therapists at increased risk.  By perpetuating the opinion that massages are a prelude to sexual activity, these hosts and their guests are encouraging the portion of the public that looks for those types of seedy services to assume that anyone advertising massage therapy is open and willing to include sex as part of the session.

With healthcare costs at an all-time high, people across the nation are seeking massage therapy to become a regular part of their preventative healthcare and others are continuing to seek the skills of professional massage therapists to help them cope with the symptoms of chronic pain.  What we, as a country, need is increased positivity and understanding of how beneficial massage therapy is.  What we don’t need, is more ignorance and archaic views that breed mis-information and endanger, not just this profession, but the hard-working men and women who provide a necessary and supportive service to their communities.

If you would like to see this portion of The View, the link is http://theview.abc.go.com/video/hot-topics-al-gores-massage