Japanese geishas, referred to as “geiko” (pronounced “gay-ko”) first appeared 300 years ago during the Edo period, an era when Japan was closed to the rest of the world allowing its indigenous culture to flourish. There were once 80,000 geisha but that number has dropped to just 1000 during the modern day. It takes 5 long years to become a geisha, this time spent with no smartphone, no romantic relationships, and only 2 days off per month. Geishas undergo lessons in music and dance as well as tea making and etiquette. All food and lodging is provided by the geisha training institution so that students become completely and totally immersed within the geisha lifestyle. Geishas wear white masks of makeup as symbolism that what is concealed is more desirable than that which is revealed. Pink is painted onto the earlobes as a way to hide embarrassment from blushing, and bare skin is left in a “W” or “V” shape upon the back of the neck to accentuate the neck which is considered highly beautiful, sexual, and erotic in Japanese culture. Geishas are only supposed to entertain their client with highly cultured activities, and the profession is not supposed to be associated with sexual interaction
Tag: makeup
The Psychology Behind Why Human Beings Desire
Human beings are not born with a sense of self, as the answer to the question “who am I?” is truly the accumulation of experiences and interactions with other people. This interaction and experience creates the self-image, an idea which is built by the views and responses of other people. Modern society is comprised of a civilization which spends great time, effort, and attention acquiring and accumulating objects and possessions, often with no particular use whatsoever, collected to produce a statement of each individual, leveraging objects as an extension of the self. In a society of sentient beings, desire is an inevitability. The products which a consumerist society creates are optional but the desire is not. This drive is what makes it easy for producers to create and design products and services which are acquired by the masses, products and services which aren’t necessarily useful or needed (e.g. latest smartphone with unknown features which remain unknown until used for the first time, but this being unimportant as the end user is positive they will enjoy the features once observed) but are purchased out of the compulsion of desire. This primitive desire has created the modern concept of dynamic obsolesce. The end user is permitted to achieve a positive emotional state, for a short period of time, which quickly fades and must be replaced by something else. This character trait has been bred into the human psyche through evolution. Human beings, like all animals, compete for mates. All animals display extra resources (e.g. colorful feathers, large horns, decorative patterns etc.) to advertise for potential mates that their genes are incredibly fit for selection and reproduction. Human beings partake in this evolved display by demonstrating attributes which require extra energy and natural resources which aren’t required to be genetically fit, which the human mind responds to regardless of the features usefulness (e.g. high heeled shoes and makeup, fast automobiles, designer clothing and accessories like handbags etc.). Manufacturers of these types of products intuitively understand and therefore successfully hijack the concept of status, one of the most fundamental determinants of human behavior. Producers of products and services tap into the preoccupation human beings have with what others think as human beings are effectively animals seeking social stature and prestige. Because of this, human beings prefer objects to be new, flamboyant in their display, and convenient
The Original Color of Ballet Shoes
Ballet shoes and tights were originally created only in pink in an attempt to match the skin color of ballerinas who wore the apparel. Because ballerinas now run the gamut of a wide array of skin tone, hue, and color, bronze and brown ballerina slippers have become available. Prior to this, ballerinas would commonly use makeup and other aids to color their shoes