VOLUME 26, NUMBER 8, August, 2005
Five million or more - that's the number of people estimated by the government working in the reflexology trade in China. "Foot massage parlors are sprouting up all over China. In big cities, like Beijing, there are shops on many street corners, and foot massage chain stores employ thousands of workers. This mushrooming industry is providing thousands of new jobs for the blind, who traditionally in Asia have been trained to do massage. ... Most (who work in the foot massage trade) come from poor rural area, and getting jobs in the city rubbing other people's feet offers a way out of poverty." Workers at some shops have only minimal training, leaving them wide open to competition from highly trained blind massage therapists who promise to deliver medicinal benefits at a competitive price." The price is $7.50 for eighty minutes. (Howard, Barbara, "China's Booming Reflexology Industry Gives Employment to the Blind," Howard Report, July 13, 2005)
"Virtually eliminated by police in 1998 in a prostitution crack down, these half-legit, half-illegal massage parlors have mushroomed throughout Beijing again to offer foot muscle therapy to tired workers as well as service on the sly to locals, travelers and expatriates. Mostly registered as beauty parlors or bathhouses, about 26,000 massage shops are now licensed in Beijing. "The parlors compete on details such as types of herbs used in the foot-soak water, the interior decor - from wood paneled walls to wall-lit art-deco atmosphere - and legitimate extra services such as full-body rubs. "Chinese believe every part of the human body corresponds to a part of the foot sole and that a skillful foot massage can relieve ailments in corresponding areas elsewhere in the body." ("Beijing sees boom in foot massage parlors")
Membership in a professional association is now required of reflexologists and other holistic health practitioners in the city of Toronto. "The bylaw comes in response to an increasing number of brothels - so-called rub-and-tugs - that have been masquerading as holistic health centres. "Originally staff had proposed dramatic increases in fees for the health centres to cover the cost of policing the illegal rub-and-tugs, and some counsellors had promoted imposing a slate of requirements on the centres that legitimate operators said were too penalizing." (Nicle, David. "Holistic practitioners face new bylaws, July 31, 2005)
The reflexologist who appears briefly in Carl Hiasson's Skinny Dipping (p. 157) is portrayed as a ditzy, hippy-dippy other-than-sterling character.
The Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk includes a reflexologist among twenty characters. "Footwork by Mother Nature" is the name of the business of the "dark side" reflexologist character who is portrayed as having the ability to give people heart attacks and orgasms.
Author and foot reflexologist Emily Seate tells the story of a reflexologist in ancient Egypt in Ah-Mah, Book One of the Heartmind Chronicles, Webeus House, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2005.