Without Choice

At night, they sleep on a wooden bed, no pillow, just a hole so that their hair can hang and not be ruined by sleep. In the mornings, they dress in elaborate kimono, with matching obi; a white powder covers their face and lips are often a bright shade of crimson. Growing up, they learn to play the shamisen, a small, guitar-like instrument, they are taught nagauta(singing), tea ceremony and dance. They are geisha. For centuries the geisha have entertained Japanese men at teahouses by dancing, singing or simply flirting with them. In these ways, a geisha is respected and held much higher than any prostitute.
Perhaps the biggest difference between a geisha and a prostitute is that geisha are well cultured in performing arts. In fact, the word “geisha” is Japanese for “artist”. When a girl begins training as a geisha, they practice the shamisen, singing and above all else, dance. Only the most attractive and promising young geisha are chosen to continue dance. Therefore, as Mameha tells Chiyo in Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, “ 'Dance has everything to do with it; if you look around at the most successful geisha in Gion, every one of them is a dancer.' ”(174) Sure, others may sing beautifully or play their shamisen well, but it is their dance that seems to capture the attention of a man.
On the other hand, there is no difference between a prostitute found in Japan and a prostitute in Paris. In the Japanese culture, however, a prostitute can be identified by certain aspects in their apparel. Chiyo's sister was sold into prostitution and when Chiyo visits her, she makes an observation, “They wore kimono and hair ornaments similar to a geisha, but their obi were tied in the front rather than in the back. I'd never seen this before and didn't understand it, but its the mark of a prostitute. A woman who must take her sash on and off all night can't be bothered with tying it behind her again and again.”(94) Also, the role of seduction differs extremely from the life of a prostitute to the life of a gieisha. The only thing a prostitute has to offer is their intimacy...from there, men can do what they choose with the girl.
Lastly, geisha were accepted and respected in the Japanese society because their traditional views of seduction were surprisingly quite relaxed. In fact, it was perfectly fine for married man to be in love with a geisha and for this reason, many geisha had a danna. Back in the 1940s and 50s, the word danna was used for the word “husband”, but because a geisha does not marry, their danna is someone who pays a very large amount to-in a way-take the geisha as his own. She is free to flirt and entertain other men, however, a geisha and her danna are usually quite attracted to one another and may meet a few nights each week on a very intimate level, and in return the geisha will have a steady income and often receives many extravagant gifts, like kimono. A geisha's reputation would be ruined if she acted as a prostitute, giving in to any man who wanted her company in bed. Chiyo learns, throughout her years in Gion, “A true geisha will never soil her reputation by making herself available to men on a nightly basis.”(171)
The bed of a prostitute is always occupied by two, although the partner may differ from one hour to the next. They live under poor conditions-selling all they have left. They wear their obi tied in front, clearly marking themselves for society. There is no escaping this terrifying position. A girl does not become a prostitute because they want to be, but because they have to be; and this may very well be the only similarity between a geisha and a prostitute, neither was ever given a choice.