IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v62y2006i9p2336-2348.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Physiotherapy and the shadow of prostitution: The Society of Trained Masseuses and the massage scandals of 1894

Author

Listed:
  • Nicholls, David A.
  • Cheek, Julianne

Abstract

In 1894 the Society of Trained Masseuses (STM) formed in response to massage scandals published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The Society's founders acted to legitimise massage, which had become sullied by its association with prostitution. This study analyses the discourses that influenced the founders of the Society and reflects upon the social and political conditions that enabled the STM to emerge and prosper. The founders established a clear practice model for massage which effectively regulated the sensual elements of contact between therapist and patient. Massage practices were regulated through clearly defined curricula, examinations and the surveillance of the Society's members. A biomechanical model of physical rehabilitation was adopted to enable masseuses to view the body as a machine rather than as a sensual being. Medical patronage of the Society was courted enabling the Society to prosper amongst competing organisations. Using Foucault's work on power we explore the contingent nature of these events, seeing the massage scandals in context with broader questions of sexual morality, professionalisation and expertise in the late nineteenth century society. We argue that many of the technologies developed by the founders resonate with physiotherapy practice today and enable us to critically analyse the continued relevance of the profession to contemporary healthcare.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholls, David A. & Cheek, Julianne, 2006. "Physiotherapy and the shadow of prostitution: The Society of Trained Masseuses and the massage scandals of 1894," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(9), pages 2336-2348, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:9:p:2336-2348
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00502-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. On K. Tam, 1999. "The Development of Corporate Governance in China," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1705.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Malcolm, Dominic & Scott, Andrea, 2011. "Professional relations in sport healthcare: Workplace responses to organisational change," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(4), pages 513-520, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rebecca Strätling, 2003. "General Meetings: a dispensable tool for corporate governance of listed companies?," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 74-82, January.
    2. Lulu Gu & W.R. Reed, 2013. "Chinese overseas M&A performance and the Go Global policy," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 21(1), pages 157-192, January.
    3. Moeen Cheema & Sikander A. Shah, 2006. "The Role of Mutual Funds and Non- Banking Financial Companies in Corporate Governance in Pakistan," Finance Working Papers 22254, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    4. Hermes, Cornelis & Oxelheim, L. & Randoy, Trond & Hooghiemstra, Reginald, 2015. "The impact of board internationalization on earnings management," Research Report 15010-I&O, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    5. Liu, Sun, 2015. "Corporate governance and forward-looking disclosure: Evidence from China," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 16-30.
    6. Erlane K Ghani & Ham Xairyani Mohamed & Kamaruzzaman Muhammad, 2019. "Board Characteristics and Foreign Direct Investment in Public Listed Property Companies: A Malaysian Evidence," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(3), pages 116-131, May.
    7. Iqbal, Zamir & Mirakhor, Abbas, 2004. "Stakeholders Model Of Governance In Islamic Economic System," Islamic Economic Studies, The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), vol. 11, pages 44-63.
    8. García-Peñalosa, Cecilia & Konte, Maty, 2014. "Why Are Women Less Democratic Than Men? Evidence from Sub-Saharan African Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 104-119.
    9. Chen, Zonghao & Keefe, Michael O’Connor, 2018. "Board of director compensation in China: To pay or not to pay? How much to pay?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 66-82.
    10. Giapponi, Catherine & Scheraga, Carl, 2007. "The Impact of Cross-Cultural Factors on Corporate Governance Transparency: The Implication for Strategic Alliances in the Airline Industry," 48th Annual Transportation Research Forum, Boston, Massachusetts, March 15-17, 2007 207915, Transportation Research Forum.
    11. Clarke, Donald C., 2003. "Corporate governance in China: An overview," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 494-507.
    12. Ahrens, Joachim & Jünemann, Patrick, 2010. "Transitional institutions, institutional complementarities and economic performance in China: A 'Varieties of Capitalism' approach," Discourses in Social Market Economy 2010-11, OrdnungsPolitisches Portal (OPO).
    13. Mohamed Ariff & J. Ratnatunga, 2008. "Do Accounting And Finance Tools Serve Governance?," CARF F-Series CARF-F-127, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    14. Koustubh Kanti Ray, 2016. "Employee stock option plan and firm performance: A quantile regression approach," Asian Journal of Empirical Research, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 6(6), pages 152-166, June.
    15. Istemi S. Demirag & Jill F. Solomon, 2003. "Guest Editorial: Developments in International Corporate Governance and the Impact of Recent Events," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 1-7, January.
    16. Nakabayashi, Masaki, 2019. "Ownership structure and market efficiency," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 189-212.
    17. James Laurenceson & Kam Ki Tang, 2005. "Shanghai's Development as an International Financial Center," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(01), pages 147-166.
    18. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3860 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Ethan Rouen, 2017. "Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and its Relation to Firm Performance," Harvard Business School Working Papers 18-007, Harvard Business School.
    20. Iqbal, Zamir & Mirakhor, Abbas, 2004. "Stakeholders Model of Governance in Islamic Economic System," MPRA Paper 56027, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Li-Jen He & Hsiangtsai Chiang & Cang-Fu Shiao, 2015. "Financial Reports Quality and Corporate Social Responsibility," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 5(3), pages 453-467, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:9:p:2336-2348. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.