[TalnSG]

I expect ignorance from AlphaDuck, but Tenchu, I would have expected a little more intellegence from. So much for that.

What too many people fail to note here (thanks for trying Paul) is that geishas are not exclusively for the entertainment of men. There are times when other women (usually of rank/nobility) also enjoyed being entertained by these artists.

Stop defining "entertainment" as sexually based. It is not the critical element of a geisha's ability to entertain her clients. It is her ability to host and to perform her art. Which includes being a very talented dancer, a reasonably skilled musician (or better), and a compelling story teller.

You who have maligned her as not being an artist still consider barely comptetant dancers on TV shows and in music videos artists, but a geisha spends years training to dance, not and hour or two. You consider a standup comic or professional story-teller an artist, well a geisha must be even more talented in this because she must gear her stories not to a general feel of a crowd, but the specific topics her exclusive audience relates to.

If you still think of a geisha as a high class call girl - which I would also consider a talented artist of another sort - you never will understand the difference.