In Memoirs of a Geisha, we can see the significance of how sexuality affects everyday life. In my opinion, we see how Geisha are held up on pedastools, causing women to become more valuable than men. It states in the book that girls become geisha not because they want to, but because they have no other choice. This is interesting because you would think that being a Geisha, at least in the case of Chiyo, is because that is what she wants to do. She makes up her mind that she wants to become a Geisha after seeing the Chairman on the bridge. This is in a way, her choice of becoming a Geisha, because when Mameha talks with her, she desires to be a Geisha and is not forced into being a Geisha.
In order for an Apprentice to become a Geisha, she must sell her virginity to the highest bidder. The way that Mameha describes this to Sayuri is hilarious, because of the analogy, yet extremely significant. The fact that Mameha states that an eel looks for a cave to “spit” in can take on many meanings. The first and foremost, the obvious act of sex, but when we take a deeper look we can alter the meaning or put a twist to it. The eel can also be seen as a snake. The snake can mislead the woman so that the woman gets what she wants by letting this happen. In this case, sex for Sayuri causes her to become a full Geisha and also allows Sayuri to leave her trapped feelings and get away from Nobu becoming her danna. However, this could be realtated back to the Bible where the devil takes form of a snake, misleading Eve to eat the Forbidden Fruit from the tree. This can take on a point of feminism where the male is always misleading the female causing the female to have pain.
When Sayuri looses her virginity to Dr. Crabb, it is disturbing the things that he does. Dr. Crabb is completely calm when handing Sayuri the white towel to put under her. He then does his thing and helps her to wipe her off. Instead of just wiping her off, he savors this moment by showing her his briefcase of tubes holding a red cloth or cotton ball. The fact that he saves a cloth of blood from each of the Geisha's he's the mizuage patron of, shares there is something extremely wrong with him. This, however, is interesting because when it takes an Apprintace to loose her virginity in order to become a Geisha its ironic how the Doctor is trying to preserve that virginity through the saving of bloody rags.
The question is raised then who is seductive: men or women. The problem with answering this is that they both are seductive. It takes a man to be seductive to become a Geisha but then again it takes a Geisha to be seductive to have a man desire them. I think that the men desire Geisha because they are not prostitutes and they are a legal way of having sex with another woman when they are married. This therefore does not make a Geisha seductive but the man willing to be seduced by a desire he already has. Knowing this, the bidding war that goes on for Sayuri's virginity is ironic because she has seduced neither man, but the men bidding are desiring to be seduced. It's almost as if it's a state of mind for the men and women in this book either be seductive or to be seduced. Near the end of the book when the Chairman is free to be with Sayuri, he seduces Sayuri by kissing her. Sayuri, however, has longed for that exact moment so I don't know if the Chairman actually had to be seducing or if he was just the desire that Sayuri had wanted for so long that she allowed herself to be seduced. The book is simply a novel of desires and wants that one can get by being seduced into it or seducing one into it.
