Too Much Water -- A Memoirs of a Geisha Fansite

Almost everyone who has never read the novel Memoirs of a Geisha or has seen the film asks if geisha are prostitutes. This is a tricky question, because the work that geisha do borders into grey areas of what could be considered prostitution and what might be considered just entertainment for adults.

If you mean prostitute in the sense that a geisha is paid on a nightly basis for exchanging sexual acts and favors for her clients, then no, she is not a prostitute.

If you mean prostitute in the sense that a geisha's virginity is or was auctioned off, or that she is given money by her danna in exchange for maintaining a sexual and/or romantic relationship with him, then yes, her work borders on prostitution.

Personally, I like to maintain the position that Sayuri takes toward the end of the novel when explaining what her life is like in New York living in the Waldorf Towers. To paraphrase, she is surprised that "kept" women think of her as a prostitute, when there is little difference between what the two women do for money. Geisha are the "kept" women of wealthy Japanese patrons, nothing more, nothing less. One could accuse a housewife of being a prostitute in the same manner one could accuse a geisha of being a prostitute.

Both geisha and housewives provide services for men -- in the case of geisha, entertainment; in the case of housewives, child-rearing, cleaning, and cooking services. Housewives often receive no monetary income for their work, but they are provided for by their husbands based on their mutual sexual relationship -- is this prostitution? No. Similarly, a geisha maintaining a romantic or sexual relationship with a danna while he supports her expenses and gives her spending money is not exactly prostitution, either. Geisha are often "tied" to their danna in the same way a marriage "ties" a woman to her husband. Of course, in both scenarios there is possibility for infidelity, but that doesn't mean it always happens or that the only reason for a marriage or a danna is money alone.

Hope that clears things up.