Would you expect to be forewarned if you were getting a hands on treatment from a man?

[GreyBlackBay]

Friend's just been to the new salon in the next village. Went for a facial and head/ shoulder massage.

She was greeted and ushered into a room then her beautician came in, a man in his mid 20s.

She said he was friendly, professional, efficient and kept dropping in bits of info about his extensive qualifications. He did absolutely nothing to make her feel uncomfortable and yet she did. And she feels bad about it.

We're both up for men and women having equal opportunities in terms of careers, but neither of us wants a man doing our beauty treatments either.

Are we just old? Is this far more acceptable amongst a younger crowd? Would you at least expect to be warned?

Im sure it was once odd and uncomfortable to have a male hairdresser, maybe this is just a similar issue?

Totally fine with that. (Wouldn’t be for a Hollywood wax)

I didn't think so either at first, but he's extremely professional, an absolutely amazing waxer who manages to make it as close to painless as possible, he's hilarious and has the best stories, and is also tremendously gay so I'm not too concerned about him creeping.

This happened to me recently for a full body massage- I politely explained I wouldn’t feel comfortable and could I please have either my money back or a female- spa sorted it in no time but I absolutely felt I should have been asked at the time of booking

Oh I'm definitely not having a man wax my A** hole.

I wouldn’t expect to be told in advance. I would expect to be able to request a female if I wished. I’ve been treated by a number of male gynaecologists, one of whom did surgery, and also by a male breast cancer consultant who was excellent. All of them had a female chaperone present and asked for consent every time they touched me, I can’t fault them at all. But obviously people feel different so they should have a choice.

I'm 61 and it wouldn't bother me at all.

No it wouldn’t bother me at all - they are just doing their job

I don't think how any individual woman might feel about it is really the point.

I think the point is that any company whose client base is largely female should, if they have an ounce of business sense, realise that many women will, for all kinds of reasons, feel uncomfortable or unsafe in an enclosed space with a man when half naked. I would expect a good company take steps to put women more at ease. They can look to see how the health care sector does it.