Just like everything else, gay massage has its unspoken etiquette rules that must be obeyed. And like everything else, etiquette and good manners are all about being considerate of others.

But first of all, what makes a massage gay? Is it gay if both the masseur and client are male? If so, does it automatically become a gay massage if there are no female masseuses available at your favorite spa and you get a male masseur? Is a massage gay if both men are gay? What if only one of them is gay? What if the masseur is gay and the client is straight — is that a gay massage? Is it gay if the men’s massage is sensual?

It’s been about 9 weeks of coronavirus restrictions and the curve doesn’t show much sign of flattening. I’m sure you’re antsy, touch deprived and going stir-crazy, and it looks like we are going to be under some restrictions through July. But there will be no set date when we will return to our previous lives. And for the next couple of years, we will be adjusting to fit into the ‘new normal’, according to this New York Times article.

We tend to acquire a lot of habits as we grow — some of them good, others not so good. Sometimes we need to turn around some of this lifetime of bad habits — exercise patterns (or the lack thereof), poor dietary choices, bad lifestyle activities… For some people, turning their lives around is easy and they can quit bad habits cold turkey. But if you’re like me, you’ll need some motivation.

For the neophyte, getting a massage, especially a gay massage could seem intimidating. Even a regular therapeutic massage could become awkward at any moment. Here are some of the more typical situations that people think of.