December 16, 2003

Ellen Kunes
Editor-in-chief
Redbook
224 West 57th St., 6th Floor
New York, NY 10019

Dear Editor,

On behalf of our 47,000 members, I want to express our disgust with how your article, “The Scary Thing that’s Happening at Spas” (Jan. 2004) distorts what the public can expect from massage therapists. Citing only a few examples of assault on massage clients, you erroneously imply that women are in real danger when they get a massage at a spa.

Even though you include at the end of the article some good tips for consumers, your title and approach are meant to sell magazines, not to accurately describe a typical massage. Two of the people you describe as assaulting clients were practicing illegally. We wonder, would you attempt to frighten your readers away from annual exams if you found examples of three gynecologists sexually assaulting patients in a two-year period? Would you even consider such a story if the examples you found were of people who practiced medicine illegally?

The article is especially repulsive because approximately 80% of massage therapists are female. Unfortunately, it is fairly common for female massage therapists to be assaulted by male clients and very rare for a female client to be assaulted by a male massage therapist. Why not write about how female massage therapists are so frequently victims of assault and unwanted sexual advances?

You owe your readers accurate information. You owe massage therapists an apology.

Sincerely,

Brenda L. Griffith
President

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