Who are geisha?

They are women of Japanese society who dedicate themselves to the arts and to the preservation of the traditions of that country. A geisha specializes in singing, dancing, music and poetry to offer the local elite her cultured and sophisticated company at parties and receptions. They have been a fundamental part of Japanese culture since the late 17th century. “The role of geisha has changed several times over time. In modern Japan they care for traditional arts. Even so, their role is ambivalent: they have a high status in society, but at the same time they are not considered respectable women”, says the American anthropologist Liza Dalby, who did a doctoral thesis and published a book on the subject, Geisha. Although some geisha actually become lovers of their dannas – a kind of sponsor who pays for the high cost of training these women – it is not correct to confuse them with high-end prostitutes.

Also false is the idea, quite common in the western world, that they are a stereotype of the submissive woman, whose purpose in life is to satisfy a man. In fact, geisha live a very independent existence and actively participate in social life, being responsible for their careers and without having the family concerns of ordinary women, as they don’t usually get married. A girl becomes an apprentice geisha (maiko) around the age of 17, after studying traditional Japanese arts (such as origami), history, poetry and singing, learning to play musical instruments, taking classes in posture and housework. All this training is done in houses called oki-ya, where access is extremely restricted for people who are not part of this reserved world of geisha.