In Seattle: Lurker jumps into the fray

[mtmt]

That green curtain idea is a great one. It would not be too expensive to put them in either.

Nudity is such a funny thing. We have so many different attitudes regarding nudity. It is interesting.

 

[Pompal 09.]

None of the above. I'm not going to go through under-sheet acrobatics at all. I'm going to disrobe and then arrange myself on the table. Why we have to get all bothered by the sight of other human beings baffles me.

Caoimhan, arrange yourself on the table??? hmmmmm..... Not sure if you are in massage school yet or not, but I would bet you would have to do what everyone else in your school will be doing when it comes time getting undressed. It is great that you are comfortable with your naked body, but others in your class may not choose to see you in the nude. You wouldnt last too long in a school if you are the only one stripping down naked behind a curtain and walking over to the massage table when everyone else is either undressing and walking over wrapped in a sheet or undressing while laying under a sheet.

Christine

I guess we'll see, but I'm a large man, and I have no intention of fidgeting too much on top of a squeaking table. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, but I really think that part of an MTs "training" probably ought to include getting used to seeing naked people.

Seriously, as an industry, MTs claim to want more respect and be viewed as a serious adjunct to the medical industry. If Doctors, PA's, Nurses, Med Techs, and other medical professionals learn to take the human body matter-of-factly, then so can MTs.

 

[anonymous...]

I guess we'll see, but I'm a large man, and I have no intention of fidgeting too much on top of a squeaking table. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, but I really think that part of an MTs "training" probably ought to include getting used to seeing naked people.

Seriously, as an industry, MTs claim to want more respect and be viewed as a serious adjunct to the medical industry. If Doctors, PA's, Nurses, Med Techs, and other medical professionals learn to take the human body matter-of-factly, then so can MTs.

I am a large woman. Do large men fidget more than large women?

Most MT's do not see naked people, they see undressed body parts piece by piece. The industry standard in the US is to drape. There are a few states where it is not manditory, but still most MT's drape. It is not my job to look at private parts of men or women. I do not need to look at what I am not going to work on, so it stays draped. When you go to a doctor you wear gown to cover. Clients are not laying out there naked. Even when a gynocologist has my legs up in stirups he still has me wearing a gown covering my top half because he is not worried about my top half for the time being.

But, the most important reason for draping is this:

PROSTITUTES DO NOT REQUIRE DRAPING.

I would much rather be mixed in with docs and nurses because of my draping rather than confused with prostitutes because of the lack of it.

Christine

PS Good tables do not squeak. I recommend an Oakworks.

 

[im_a_goofy_chick]

Good lord! Schools should be providing adequate changing facilities, if not for the modesty of students (clearly variable) then for the practice of how one typically interacts with clients. As for stripping and flopping -- I seem to remember (oh so dimly) that a ton of inclass work was specific to parts rather than full-body, especially in early Swedish and in most of treatment/clinical stuff. So a full strip, whether a school puts up with it or not, might be very nearly a moot point.

I agree w/GL that a good table oughtn't to squeak -- but a hard-used school table? Pretty good chance!

 

[diamondflower]

I'm not arguing against draping. Once I'm on the table, of course I expect to be draped, and I hope that the fellow student working on me is learns to do effective and efficient draping, as do I when our positions are reversed.

I just don't plan on squiggling out of my clothing on top of a table.

If my school has changing facilities, so be it, but if a class of 20 is queueing up for 2 changing booths, it seems like an awful waste of time.

Once again, I am not arguing against draping.

But in a classroom environment, with a bunch of other (presumably) somewhat mature grown-ups, who are entering a profession where they not only have to see, but also touch, 98% of the body area of possibly thousands of human beings of both genders over decades, and who will more than likely end up seeing, from time to time, that last 2%, it makes absolutely no sense to me that such people should cling to hangups they may have about the human body. To express shock, moral outrage, disgust, or disdain for that 2% is to perpetuate the myth that those areas are somehow "dirty" or "shameful".

That said, let me argue in favor of draping:

Draping serves a number of very valid purposes:

1) As you mentioned, it is a major differentiation point between legitimate Massage Therapy and Prostitution.
2) It helps to set clear boundaries on the relationship between MT and client.
3) It acknowledges that although the MT may not have any hangups about that 2%, the client most likely does (in the U.S. culture).
4) Going beyond the 2%, draping serves to keep the client comfortably warm.
5) It is the law in many states and jurisdictions.
6) It is required by the code of ethics of several certifying boards.

It may serve the purpose of sparing the MT discomfort arising from their own hangups about that 2%, but I really think that is the weakest of all these purposes mentioned.

So please do not accuse me of arguing against draping as an important Standard Operating Procedure for MTs.

Thank you,
Kevin