Notes on a Scandal: Massage, Al Gore, and The View

By Alison Bodah Burney, LMT, NCTMB
Licensed Massage Therapist

As you may or may not have seen, heard or read about over the last month, Al Gore was accused of sexually assaulting a licensed massage therapist in Oregon in 2006. The Portland District Attorney’s office has decided not to press charges against Mr. Gore.

The case garnered a lot of media attention, as sex scandals involving politicians do, and the story has been discussed and dissected on television and in the blogosphere. Some people have treated the facts of the case and the people involved with respect, some have chosen to use innuendo and happy ending jokes in their reporting, and others are choosing to comment upon and judge an industry and health modality of which they are completely ignorant. The media outlet receiving the most ire from the massage community is ABC’s The View. On their June 24th episode, the women of The View along with guest-host Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe discussed the then-breaking news of the Al Gore massage scandal.  The discussion moved quickly from the alleged illegal behavior of a former Vice President, to massage therapy and massage therapists. Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joe Scarborough made comments and jokes that could be interpreted at best as unfunny and uneducated and at worst as slandering massage as nothing more or less than prostitution There has been a large online response to the comments made on The View. Both the American Massage Therapy Association and the Associated Massage and Bodywork Professionals, the two largest massage organizations in the country who, together, represent over 129,000 massage therapists and students, immediately sent letters to the producers of The View. The AMTA’s letter expressed the need for the media to treat the massage industry with respect. The AMBP chose to express their concerns with the way the profession had been portrayed and offered the producers and co-hosts complimentary one-hour massages, in an attempt to educate instead of shoot the messenger. Massage Therapy Radio had a special episode discussing the allegations, the media portrayal of the scandal, and the importance of therapist safety- especially in regards to the therapists who do outcalls and work with hotels.  There is a Facebook page of nearly 6,000 massage therapists requesting an apology from The View and a Change.Org petition requesting an apology as well.

Apart from those seeking an apology, there is an urging for therapists to use the scandal and subsequent media coverage as opportunities to educate as opposed to a reason to be angry. The AMBP urged its members (of which I am one) to educate the public about the benefits of massage as well as information about training and licensing for therapists, through newsletters, marketing materials and the comments section of any media outlet that we feel has misrepresented us. Many of the discussions happening on-line at massage blogs or professional networking sites include a message that we should not act out of anger, that we should not dwell on the negative, and that healing comes through positive action. These are all statements I agree with.

However, this is not about bruised egos or hurt feelings but rather this is about the safety of therapists. I do not know how many massage therapists are sexually harassed each year and I don’t know how many of those harassments escalate to a physical assault. I don’t know how many of those harassments and/or assaults are reported. But I know it happens. It’s happened to me and it’s happened to many of the other men and women that I have worked with, studied with and networked with over the past six years. We talked about inappropriate requests in school and how to handle people looking for a service that massage therapists do not provide. We are trained to have very clear boundaries and to adhere to a code of ethics. One would think
that being the fully clothed and vertical person in the room would give the therapist all the power in a situation of sexual harassment. But it still can be a scary, demoralizing experience. And that’s if the situation does not become abusive or violent.

When the media reports stories about massage with a raised eyebrow or an innuendo, they are contributing to a culture that thinks its okay to request or demand sexual favors from people who are not sex workers but highly trained professionals. In this recent allegation against Al Gore, how many reporters delivered the news that the alleged incident happened in a hotel room with a knowing smile or a raised eyebrow? What message does that send? There are many practitioners who center their practice on outcalls or hotel massages. Does the fact that they travel to their clients instead of the other way around mean that they are expected to engage in sex acts? Does the fact that they either contract or network with up-scale hotels to add to that hotel’s amenities and guest service mean that they deserve to be assaulted? It’s like reporting on an attempted rape of a woman walking down the street and saying, “Well, she was wearing a short skirt.” I do not think that any reporter or anyone on The View would actually say that any person deserves to be assaulted. But the message that is sent with their jokes, innuendo, and judgments-“nothing good happens after the first hour of massage”- is that harassment is justifiable and expected.

So, yes, I’m still carrying some anger surrounding this situation. But I’ll do some educating, too. Many of you reading this newsletter have likely experienced massage or at least have an interest and respect for holistic therapies. You may have experienced the deep relaxation, enhanced sleep, and anxiety relief that massage can provide. Massage may have helped decrease your muscle and joint pain or increase your mobility and function. Maybe massage helped you cope with a difficult situation or maybe it helped relieve your migraine headaches.  But did you know that there are massage therapists who work with people in hospice or hospitals? There are therapists who volunteer to go to disaster sites and work with emergency response personnel. There are promising studies that show that massage can help veterans and abuse survivors suffering from PTSD. Massage can help premature infants gain weight.  There are massage therapists that travel with sports teams and to the Olympics. The massage industry is made up of therapists working anywhere from spas to football fields.

I am also going to ask for your help. Massage jokes and innuendo don’t happen only on the TV.  They happen at parties, on the golf course, and over lunch. When these instances occur, I’m not asking you to loudly proclaim, “You swine! Massage changed my life!” But maybe you could share your experience with massage, how it may have benefited you, and that you have respect for your professional massage therapist. If you happen to be watching The View or your local news and someone jovially implies that massage therapists are prostitutes, maybe you could email or post a comment to the shows website sharing your massage experience. And as much as I would appreciate it, it would also be to your benefit.

Yes, helping to change the cultural perception of massage not only helps keep massage therapists safe, it may also benefit you. I would love to see massage covered by medical insurance. I want as many people as possible to benefit from regular therapeutic massage.  The massage industry can help make that happen by continuing research so that we can scientifically validate massage as an effective treatment. You can help by making sure that the
first thing people think about when they hear the word massage is health.