Women Massage Therapists and Beauty Professionals Are in Greater Demand Than Their Male Counterparts, but Gender is Becoming Less of a Factor for More Experienced Spagoers

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM THE NEW YORK TIMES

when it comes to the skin- and health-care professionals who administer his facials and work the kinks out of his shoulders, David Yu, an airline pilot, chooses women.

“You want to be relaxed, in an aura of peace,” said Yu, who lives in Manhattan. “You don’t want to feel there’s any type of roughness or testosterone touching your face.”

What about a massage? “One hundred percent female,” he said. “I’m not comfortable with a male massaging the places that typically get massaged.”

And personal training? In that case Yu prefers a man. “When I’m trying to be focused on working out, I definitely don’t want to have any sexual tension there,” he said.

It will come as no surprise to spagoers that the majority of people trained to care for and touch clients’ bodies are women. Because these services involve physical contact, sometimes behind closed doors, spas often ask clients if they prefer a male or a female technician. Overwhelmingly, industry professionals say, their clients choose women.

“The female request is always the dominant request across the board,” said Vance Soto, spa manager of Equinox Century City Fitness Club and Spa.

That statement was echoed by male employees at Bliss spas, which are in London and five U.S. cities, including Los Angeles. Women make up 90 percent of the Bliss clientele, a spokeswoman said, though the number of men is increasing and likely to continue to do so, as more Bliss spas open in W Hotels, where men are 70 percent of the clientele.

Annbeth Eschbach, president and chief executive of Exhale Enterprises, which offers fitness, curative and spa services, said her managers in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and New York agreed that both men and women generally want women for massages and facials. Gender-neutral requests are becoming more popular, however, Eschbach said, as spa visitors become more experienced and request technicians based solely on skill.

After all, many customers are only concerned about receiving the very best facial or pedicure, not the sex of the therapist.

But why do others feel so strongly about being treated by one sex and not the other?

Their reasons include the type of service performed; their level of modesty; their previous experiences; gender stereotypes (such as “a man gives a stronger massage”); and the notion that a woman knows a woman’s body best, and ditto for guys. The sexual orientation of the specialist may also figure into the equation (if the client happens to know what it is).

Then again, clients may not have much of a choice in these women- saturated fields.

According to 2006 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women account for about 84 percent of massage therapists; 69 percent of recreation and fitness workers; 93 percent of hairdressers, stylists and cosmetologists; and 83 percent of “miscellaneous personal appearance workers.”

Not surprisingly, the pay is relatively low, and most are contract workers or work part-time. According to May 2005 data from the bureau, the national mean hourly wage was $7.85 for hair washers; $9.81 for nail technicians; $11.36 for hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists; and $12.90 for skin care specialists.

Male specialists say they have had to use skill and a little charm to win over female clients.

Fred Goudy, an aesthetician at Bliss Chicago, said he has walked into the spa lounge and had clients say, “I’ve never had a male aesthetician before.” But, he added, “All of my regular clients started out as people who never had a facial from a man before.” (On the other hand, being the lone male means “I’m easy to remember,” he said.)

Betty Contreras, a physical therapist who was referred to Ben Brown, a licensed massage therapist at Bliss49 in Manhattan when her appointment with a masseuse was canceled, said, “I was very hesitant.” She was concerned that the large, rough hands of a masseur might be too tough and insensitive on her petite frame. But she was delighted to be proved wrong.

“You really shouldn’t base who you see on gender,” said Contreras, who now goes to Brown twice a month.

Mona Monaghan-Kelliher, an executive coach in Manhattan, also had a change of heart. She once had what she called an “all boys club” of groomers. Today she has an all-female team.

“There’s something really comfortable about women,” she said. “I can’t relate to a man on that level.”

Inna Idelchik, a lawyer in Manhattan, has a coed team. She does not mind a woman doing her facials or her wax, she said, because they tend to be mother figures and, with her best interests in mind, chide her about things such as not exfoliating. But when it comes to a hairstylist, she prefers a man because men make the experience sexy, positive and fun. “They’re very complimentary and flattering,” she said.

Amie Hoff, a fitness consultant at New York Sports Clubs, who has been in the business for 15 years, said a woman may want a woman for a trainer because she would rather not feel self-conscious about being a sweaty, disheveled mess. When a man requests a female trainer, Hoff said, it may be because “it’s an hour to spend with somebody of the opposite sex.”

Some people, though, said it would be best to stop thinking about gender entirely.

Take, for instance, Yvonne M. Durant, a freelance writer in Manhattan who once walked into a salon in Midtown and found herself assigned to a male nail technician.

“I said, ‘Well this is different.’ ” Durant laughed. But, she added, “He was great.”

“When he did my pedicure, I loved it,” she said, “because it was as close as I was going to get to a man kissing my feet.”

(c) 2007 Daily Breeze. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.