The Geishas consider themselves artists; they should be specialized in dancing, singing and special modals. They train throughout their lives to be one, and to be a successful one they should follow the rules and characteristics of a good Geisha; in the past Geishas use to be girls sold by their families, usually for economic problems. During the process to become a Geisha they get a new name, one “more artistic”… Geishas under 20 are called Maiko that are like apprentices. After the debut they’re considered as “Geishas” and people should pay for their company, usually they’re called to tea-houses or special events.
It is important to remind that geishas are not whores, they are not allowed to have any sexual contact with their costumers, the geisha purpose is to entertain and perform, actually there was a way to differentiate easily geishas and prostitutes, in the kimono they should use a big bun, (both of them) but geishas use it on the back and prostitutes on the front, and of course, the geisha’s kimonos are absolutely more sophisticated and made of a better material.
After the Cold War the “geisha” idea was copied by the Americans, so now you can easily found fake-geishas that just use a nice kimono and paint their faces, but to be a real Geisha is more than just that, is such a procedure actually.
First the very young girls were sold by their families to a geisha house, then they should be maids for a few years, until they “get some value” and pay to the house what they pay before for them. After being treated as a poor homeless who clean the house they should learn the geishas arts, such as play instruments, prepare food, serve the tea, walk with the special shoes, and how to walk with the heavy kimono and make It look like if it was juts floating around, how to sleep without touching the floor with the head (I look for a picture for you!!), then they become apprentices and the “action” starts, they start to visit tea-houses, dance and give shows, this part sounds very fun, but they have a big competitiveness between geishas, so they don’t have many friends, and also with this night job, they still cleaning, cooking and learning new things.. This continue until the big sale comes, then the geisha house publish they have a geisha ready to go.. someone offer money for her, some other guy offer more, other offer more, until the best bidder shows up and pay a lot of money to take her virginity, the geisha house keep the money as pay for taking care of her and all that “nice” things and she is free to live with the men that pays for her… so now that you know a brief story about their life I hope you search for more info about them, as you see.. is a very interesting topic 8)
If you want to read more specific info:
"Lifestyle and History of the Geisha: From Kako, the First Geisha to Today's Geisha in Kyoto and Anime | Suite101.com." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. Web. 02 Sept. 2011. <http://www.suite101.com/content/geisha-a60875>.
And here is a blog with some of the rules that geishas have to follow..
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