Facebook and other social media posts, the Internet, television shows, movies, and magazine articles. It is important to ensure that massage and bodywork practitioners have accurate information to provide the best possible experience for current and potential clients regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. To do this, the practitioner must be committed to provide all clients with the same standard of ethical care. Even small adjustments to the way we interact with clients can mean the difference between an uncomfortable or even devastating experience and massage customer who returns regularly (Haines, 2016). Clients may be gay, lesbian, transgender, nonbinary, agender, bisexual, asexual or questioning often referred to as LGBTQ. These terms may be confusing and constantly changing as society becomes more aware of varying orientations. Though simplified for this course, these terms relate to the fact that the individual’s biological sex and physical characteristics may not reflect their gender or how they identify with a sense, or internal feelings, of being male or female. Some people may identify as male, female, a combination of both or choose or chose not to select either one. The nature of the profession of massage and bodywork requires the practitioner to be particularly sensitive to these clients for a number of reasons: ● People are at their most vulnerable. Undressed, alone, often in pain. Practitioners cannot work effectively if they do not address this vulnerability with both compassion and competence, regardless of gender orientation. ● These clients are often hurt by people with unaddressed assumptions about gender just as often as conscious hostility. This means it is not enough just to be kind; practitioners must also be informed in order to avoid doing harm. ● Many clients are reluctant to seek massage and bodywork therapy. Practitioners have much to offer but only a fraction of the population is experiencing care. Removing barriers between individuals and includes regular massage and bodywork should be a priority for the profession (Haines, 2016). Glossary of terms ● Asexual : An adjective used to describe people who do not experience sexual attraction (e.g., asexual person). A person can also be aromantic, meaning they do not experience romantic attraction. ● Bisexual , Bi : A person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or to those of another gender. People may experience this attraction in differing ways and degrees over their lifetime. Bisexual people need not have had specific sexual experiences to be bisexual; in fact, they need not have had any sexual experience at all to identify as bisexual. Do not use a hyphen in the word “bisexual,” and only capitalize bisexual when used at the beginning of a sentence. ● Gay : The adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex (e.g., gay man, gay people). Sometimes lesbian (n. or adj.) is the preferred term for women. Avoid identifying Sexual orientation The term for an individual’s enduring physical, romantic and/ or emotional attraction to members of the same and/or opposite sex, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and heterosexual, straight, orientations. Avoid the term “sexual preference,” which is seen as offensive because it is used to suggest that being gay, lesbian, or bisexual is voluntary and therefore “curable.” People need not have had specific sexual experiences to know their own sexual orientation; in fact, they need not have had any sexual experience at all. Transgender (adj.) An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/ or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. People under the
gay people as “homosexuals” an outdated term considered derogatory and offensive to many lesbian and gay people. ● Gender expression : External manifestations of gender, expressed through a person’s name, pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, and/or body characteristics. Society identifies these cues as masculine and feminine, although what is considered masculine or feminine changes over time and varies by culture. Typically, transgender people seek to align their gender expression with their gender identity, rather than the sex they were assigned at birth. ● Gender identity : A person’s internal, deeply held sense of their gender. For transgender people, their own internal gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. Most people have a gender identity of man or woman (or boy or girl). For some people, their gender identity does not fit neatly into one of those two choices. Gender identity is not visible to others. ● Intersex : An umbrella term describing people born with reproductive or sexual anatomy and/or a chromosome pattern that can’t be classified as typically male or female. Those variations are also sometimes referred to as Differences of Sex Development (DSD.) Avoid the outdated and derogatory term “hermaphrodite.” While some people can have an intersex condition and also identify as transgender, the two are separate and should not be conflated. ● Lesbian : A woman whose enduring physical, romantic, or emotional attraction is to other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay (adj.) or as gay women. Avoid identifying lesbians as “homosexuals,” a derogatory term ● LGBTQ : Acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. Sometimes, when the Q is seen at the end of LGBT, it can also mean questioning. LGBT and/or GLBT are also often used. The term “gay community” should be avoided, as it does not accurately reflect the diversity of the community and LGBTQ community is preferred. ● Queer : An adjective used by some people, particularly younger people, whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexual (e.g., queer person, queer woman). Typically, for those who identify as queer, the terms lesbian, gay, and bisexual are perceived to be too limiting and/or fraught with cultural connotations they feel do not apply to them. Some people may use queer, or more commonly genderqueer, to describe their gender identity and/or gender expression. Once considered a pejorative term, queer has been reclaimed by some LGBT people to describe themselves; however, it is not a universally accepted term even within the LGBT community. When Q is seen at the end of LGBT, it typically means queer and, less often, questioning. ● Sex : The classification of a person as male or female. At birth, infants are assigned a sex, usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy, and that is written on the birth certificate. A person’s sex is a combination of bodily characteristics including: chromosomes, hormones, internal and external reproductive organs, and secondary sex characteristics (Glaad, 2016). transgender umbrella may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms including transgender. Some of those terms are defined below. Use the descriptive term preferred by the person. Many transgender people are prescribed hormones by their doctors to bring their bodies into alignment with their gender identity. Some undergo surgery as well but not all transgender people can or will take those steps. A transgender identity is not dependent upon physical appearance or medical procedures. Transsexual (adj.) An older term that originated in the medical and psychological communities. Still preferred by some people who have permanently changed, or seek to change, their bodies through
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Book Code: MLA1224
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