If you are a woman wishing to seduce men and with US$440 dollars to spare, you can now attend an institution unique in Russia, and probably in Europe: Saint Petersburg's first geisha school.
Students, who follow ten-session seminars devoted to "the art of touching," "erotic cuisine" or "belly dancing," come from all kinds of backgrounds and belong to various age groups.
Alina is a pretty 23-year-old brunette clad in flashy leather clothes, while Irina, a tall, blonde, 40-year-old, has been married for 20 years.
"Students can be young girls who want to make a successful marriage, or married women who are afraid they might lose their husbands, but most are successful career women who are not happy with their private lives," said school head Larisa Bogdanova, a 37-year-old redhead and mother of two sons who graduated in psychology and management.
But all have resolved to become "ideal women," fascinated by the example of Japanese geishas, professional hostesses specially in the arts of singing, dancing and conversation.
Geishas perform in tea houses and at private parties but are not -- contrary to a belief often held outside Japan -- fancy prostitutes.
The geisha image sold at the school, however, departs in many ways from the original Japanese concept and focuses to a large extent on eroticism and sex.
"The word geisha should not be interpreted too literally, what we have in mind is an ideal woman who knows how to seduce men and has good looks," said Bogdanova, who set up the school a year ago.
"What we teach is an art of seduction that allows women to attract men and to manipulate them," she added.
Seminars at this school located smack in the center of Saint Petersburg are taught in small groups and in luxurious settings, with some rooms designed to look like an Italian villa, others modelled after a Japanese or an Indian palace.
The key to becoming an ideal woman lies in understanding the psychology of the Russian man and what he really wants from a woman, Bogdanova said.
"For a Russian man, an ideal woman should not only be sexy, but also show concern and understanding, she should be a woman and a lover at the same time," she added.
While it was understandable that women showed an increased interest in their sexuality after years of Soviet puritanism, the way this was done at the geisha school was cause for concern, said Yelena Zdravomislova, a sociologist at Saint Petersburg Institute of Sociology.
"It is sad that women visiting such schools are content with becoming objects, instead of learning how to establish relationships with men on an equal footing," Zdravomislova said.
Student Irina, however, did not seem to share such concerns, saying instead that she was delighted with her geisha school training.
"After 20 years of being married, my husband had totally lost interest in my personality and I was about to get a divorce," she said.
"But now, we are going through a second honeymoon, and he has started to envy me," said Irina, the wife of a businessman.
Although she had already attended 10 lessons, she said she was keen to carry on with her vaginal muscles development workshop, which she described as "terrific."
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The United States Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the US that include Chinese technology or equipment. “We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.” The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and the potential for espionage. The U.S. has
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
RSS