In a traditional Turkish bath (hamam), men and women are rigidly separated by gender. Women bathe with women, and massage is done by masseuses (females). Men bathe with men, and are massaged by masseurs (males).
There are no “mixed” or “co-ed” baths. No modest Turkish woman would accept a masseur (male massager).
However, foreign couples and groups of friends, often want to experience the Turkish bath together. Some hamams have adapted to this demand by accepting foreign men and women at the same time. In most cases, the foreign bathers have swimsuits(whereas in the traditional bath, women wear bikini bottoms, or are naked, and men wear a wrap called a peştemal below the waist).
So far, there is no well-established tradition of males giving professional, respectful massages to women. As a woman, you may find such a masseur, and he may act professionally and not presume any romantic or sexual affiliation with you; but you cannot assume that this will be the case. To avoid any such unplesasantness, you should receive your massage only from a female.
Larger, historic hamams (especially in Istanbul) may have separate bathing areas for men and women, but most hamams have only one set of facilities and segregate the genders by time: men bathe at certain hours or on certain days, women bathe at other hours or on other days.
Before entering the female section of a hamam, you can ask:
Sırf kadın hamamcı var, değil mi? (SURF kah-duhn hah-mahm-juh vahr deh-YEEL mee)
If you have doubts about a certain hamam's policies, ask about them: women only? Male attendants or female attendants? Bathing suits or naked?
Women only: kadınlara mahsus
Men only: erkeklere mahsus
Men & women together: erkek ve kadın beraber
Female massage-giver: kadın masajcı
Male massage-giver: erkek masajcı
Naked: çıplak
Swimsuit: mayo
With swimsuit: mayolu
Without swimsuit: mayosuz
—by Tom Brosnahan
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