Pampering Men

By: EMILY HARRIS | Wednesday: February 11th 2009

It came out of left field, but sure rings true. Why don't men go to spas? They don't like them!

Turns out our economist on yesterday's show about dropping gambling revenue has also recently studied whether spas would be a good business expansion for Native American tribes already into gaming.

Bob Whelan of ECONorthwest advises no. He says that's because spas and casinos fight each other. Gambling is exciting, he says. Casino owners want people to be pumped up, not chilled out. In other words, aromatherapy and acupuncture aren't going to milk the casino cow.

There's one catch, and that's couples in which partners don't both love to gamble. One might much prefer apricot scrubs to triple sevens, and the other might rather lose big than take a mud bath. Here's where Whelan's gender analysis comes in. He says men don't like spas because they don't like to be pampered. He says women do love the attention — and there's a bonus with spas: When pampering is a straightforward market transaction women don't feel guilty about getting pampered. If it's social transaction, Whelan says, they do.

Meaning if women pay for pampering, good, no guilt. But breaking out of the caretaker role at home is harder.

Maybe. I mean, what woman turns down breakfast in bed? And what about pampering males with the old Scotch and slippers routine? In any case, Whelan says men are slowly warming to the idea of professional pampering — and spas say so too! So keep an eye out — cucumber slices may soon be offered to ease the glare of flashing slots.

All of this got me thinking about feet. In particular, Dave and mine:

Who could use more pampering?



Become a sponsor