Men are the latest accessory

From CNN:

It’s a dizzying reversal of traditional gender roles in a country long known for geishas pampering male clients with conversation, singing and dancing. Now a new breed of entertainer has cropped up — think of them as male geishas.

« I give women things that men normally don’t do, like complimenting their appearance, » says one host, 24-year-old Yunosuke, who only goes by his single host name. « I make women happy. »

And they make him happy: Yunosuke says he earned more than $200,000 last year, enough to let him visit a salon once a day to have his hair dyed and blow-dried.

« Women see us as one of their accessories, » he says. « They like to wear nice things, so I try to look prettier for them all the time. »

There’s definitely a trend here. After reading Vers le sud, I need to get my hands on Cliente, a novel by Josiane Balasko (soon to be a movie). And of course there’s Christian who pulled a few tricks (link= video) as a high end escort recently on Nip/Tuck. (The video link doesn’t lead to the right scene but the striptease is kinda worth it, in a campy, Nip/Tuck way)

Check out the picture of the guy who is quoted in the CNN article. He looks strangely like that creepy woman who follows your mouse with her eyes. I wouldn’t want to be his « cliente » if he did that to me. Yikes.

Le manège

André Nantel est de passage à Québec et vient de publier des photos du manège militaire qui a été la proie d’un incendie hier soir. L’oeuvre du feu fait peine à voir. Quelle tristesse.