Japan’s Geisha Essay
The look is pure subservience. The white-painted face, with lips like a red gash, is framed by a dead straight curtain of dark glossy hair, glorious silk kimonos… It is a stark image of a geisha that is one of the most beautiful and unforgettable images associated with the ‘land of the rising sun’. Who are these women? What is the history of their unique profession? They are very clever women, women who summing up feisty independence in the post-feminist era… posing a silent submissive geisha girl.
Geisha is the mistress of reinvention. And behind every change of image – always total, always perfect down to the last detail – is a carefully thought-out strategy to get the attention that she wants.
As we turn to Japan’s history, the first geisha-like performers in recorded Japanese history were the suburuko, those who served, who waited tables, who made different conversations and even helped men with their difficult and unreliable problems. Nevertheless, geisha girl is just a girl and men are looking for her to have and receive great pleasure, ‘cause men know about geisha’s sexual favors.
The higher-class suburuko danced and entertained at elite social events. Ordinary suburuko were mostly the daughters of families left with no money or possessions in the social and political changes, a sudden or a violent changes of the seventh century(the period of the Taika Reform), that effected their lives heavily.
In 794 CE the Emperor Kammu moved this capital from Nara to Heian. It was near present day Kioto. It was the flourishing period for Yamato Japanese culture. This period witnessed all the standard of beauty; moreover, it was the period of high demand in great dancers and talented artists. It all lasted until 1185.
By the end of sixteenth century the word ‘geisha’ became the adoration of men, but she did not rely on selling sexual pleasure. Geisha girls knew everything about conversations, flirting and fun. They were sociable enough, considerate to others, calm and quite.
Besides, geisha often gave an impression of being more comfortable with her past than her present. From their famous talent to affection and dances to the traditional improvising beautiful poetry, geisha girl is still one of the most enigmatic symbols of everything in life.
Anyway, what have drawn girls to the persona of geisha, one of the most notorious symbols of pre-feminist women, virtually imprisoned in the service of men?
Only time will tell, but one thing is certain… this geisha is being used in the service of only one person. Geisha herself.
