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Originally posted by Haken:
If I was single and RICH. I'll probably attempt to go through their entire catalog.

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This will probably open an entire can of worms, but the current dating scene isn't much different, at least that's what I'm told by friends who are still in the game (funny how it's called that, but it's actually quite true).

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I'm told that in certain circles, if the male buys dinner, do the whole wine and dine thing, it's expected that the female allow him to "close the deal," so to speak.

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Originally posted by fearthebunnyman:
No, I thought it was an interesting idea that wasn't handled as well as it could have been

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Originally posted by chrisisall:

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Originally posted by Haken:
If I was single and RICH. I'll probably attempt to go through their entire catalog.

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At 16, I would have spent every dime on that venue, I conjure.

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This will probably open an entire can of worms, but the current dating scene isn't much different, at least that's what I'm told by friends who are still in the game (funny how it's called that, but it's actually quite true).

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I hated the *game* in my 20's, and I'd hate it more now.
I'm lucky to have found a beautiful & sassy mate back when love was still the most important thing.
(70's carryover to the 80's)
Welcome to "Demolition Man" & "Cherry 2000" era dating these days.

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I'm told that in certain circles, if the male buys dinner, do the whole wine and dine thing, it's expected that the female allow him to "close the deal," so to speak.

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That's a form of, well, I won't say it, but, where's the equality here?


The demanding male Chrisisall

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Originally posted by pachelbel:

Hey, if a woman wined and dined me, I'd let her close the deal!

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Originally posted by chrisisall:

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Originally posted by pachelbel:

Hey, if a woman wined and dined me, I'd let her close the deal!

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If you're a female Pach, I'll be in my bunk, otherwise *whatever.*


The laughing Chrisisall

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Originally posted by chrisisall:
I hated the *game* in my 20's, and I'd hate it more now.

I'm lucky to have found a beautiful & sassy mate back when love was still the most important thing.

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Word Origin & History

hetaera
1820, "mistress," from Mod.L., from Gk. hetaira "female companion," in Athens opposed to "lawful wife," and thus embracing everything from "concubine" to "courtesan;" fem. of hetairos "comrade, companion,"

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Originally posted by mal4prez:
Sorry Chris, but...

Doesn't it seem that those who are uncomfortable with this idea of "Companions" are those who would be tempted to use the service? Not only in this thread, but in real life?

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Originally posted by chrisisall:
It comes from the idea that I wouldn't want my daughter to be one, yet I would have been tempted to use the service from someone else's daughter in my 20's. The inherent hypocracy there is the source of the discomfort, I conjure.

And yeah, this culture is whack when it comes to sex roles.

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Originally posted by chrisisall:
Look, I feel that prostitution should be legal & regulated, but is the idea that it's a profession to be elevated to some "noble" & semi-spiritual service make any here cringe just a little bit?

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Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
Us women aren't used to having a purely physical act without any emotions involved, paying and walking away.

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But I must admit my take on it would have been similar to Mal's in that were I attracted to a woman who was a companion, and I wanted the relationship to go further, I would in all honesty want her to give up that profession first.

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Originally posted by chrisisall:

Look, I feel that prostitution should be legal & regulated, but is the idea that it's a profession to be elevated to some "noble" & semi-spiritual service make any here cringe just a little bit?

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Originally posted by piratenews:

Or how about if your daughter wanted to work that job... or your wife?

Legal or not, that's a hard sell for most folk.

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Originally posted by mal4prez:

As for the sex-for-dinner thing, I can't believe that actually happens often, (outside Sex and the City episodes) nor do I think it's prostitution when it does. What, you think the woman wouldn't be able to afford dinner otherwise? Or that a woman shouldn't act on an urge (yes, woman have those) simply because it's a common ritual for the man to buy dinner?

In my dating days I'd go 50-50 when possible. But some men were offended by that. Like opening doors - it seemed to make them feel good about themselves to treat me. Sometimes it was sweet, sometimes it was less so - when guys seemed to think I owed them in return. It was never stated, but sometimes the expectation was clearly there. That's just rude! To insist and buying dinner and then insist on payback... sheesh!

But not all women are empowered enough to say no in this situation. They're trained to think they have to do that payback, as men are trained to think the have to pay ahead. So... it's not at all prostitution, is what I'm saying.

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Originally posted by piratenews:
ALL dates are job interviews for "prostitution".

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Originally posted by chrisisall:

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Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
Us women aren't used to having a purely physical act without any emotions involved, paying and walking away.

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Not at all interested in professional service?



The laughing Chrisisall

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Originally posted by Haken:

Yeah, same here. My wife and I were just talking about it earlier this evening how we were both fortunate and avoided the whole adult dating circuit.

Speed-dating, dating-in-the-dark, and all the other newfangled ways that people are using to try and find their true love just makes us feel tired and probably not survive the ordeal.

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Originally posted by pizmobeach:
I liked how even after Mal gave Inara so much flack she came in to save him in The Train Job. Makes me wonder who is against legalizing prostitution, men or women? Too much power for women? And if it was legal and women ran it would it be more like in the show?

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Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:

What can I say. I'm from a small town in the South and the liberal university town of Chapel Hill, NC corrupted me.

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Originally posted by piratenews:
Miss Kitty was a prostitute/madam on TV in Gunsmoke. In real life she smoked like a chimney and died of HIV AIDS. So Inara's character is nothing new on TV, and FF was a space western. Gotta have a space hooker in the Wild Wild Verse. It's mandatory.

What's new is a hooker is allowed to fall in love (or love/hate). Tho happy hooker Julia Roberts did that in Pretty Woman.

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Originally posted by Platonist:
Like Two says, though, I was never able to buy into Inara’s high standing either as a Guild member or a sacred whore. It doesn’t make sense that whores, trained and certified in the future would suddenly have social status and credibility, notoriety, like celebrities of today, yes, but not power brokers of tomorrow. Legal doesn’t equal empowerment, money does, and maybe the Guild has a lot of money, like the Church at one time. But the Church was in the business of selling tickets for soul redemption, where the Guild’s services are more of a luxury for the rich, a luxury you can live without, especially if you lose your money, so even that comparison doesn’t hold up...

And, just because we see Inara defending her chosen profession doesn’t mean she wants to do it forever, otherwise if she did, she wouldn’t have left the house to fly on Serenity and end up on backwater moons NOT having any clients to service...

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Originally posted by Platonist:
It doesn’t make sense that whores, trained and certified in the future would suddenly have social status and credibility, notoriety, like celebrities of today, yes, but not power brokers of tomorrow.

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And, just because we see Inara defending her chosen profession doesn’t mean she wants to do it forever, otherwise if she did, she wouldn’t have left the house to fly on Serenity and end up on backwater moons NOT having any clients to service.

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And, both Nandi and Saffron ran from the Guild, so something is askew there, too restrictive, probably.

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In early seventeenth-century Japan (long before the word geisha was ever used), the predecessor of the geisha, a combination of actress and prostitute, worked on the stages set in the driver[vague] river bed of the River Kamo in Kyoto. The line between actress and prostitute was then blurred. The women would preform erotic dances and skits for their audiences. This new type of performance was dubbed kabuku, meaning "to be wild and outrageous". They[who?] called her dances kabuki, which was the beginning of kabuki theater.[1]

Traditional Japanese views of sex were very relaxed. It was a society that embraced sexual delights and where men were not constrained to be faithful to their wives. In fact it was socially acceptable to be in love with one's wife, but only what was considered a "professional" woman.[vague] For sexual enjoyment and romantic attachment, men did not go to their wives, but to courtesans. In order to maintain this profession, the Japanese government created "pleasure quarters" where the courtesans could reside and work and men could go to relax and enjoy the entertainment.[1]

These pleasure quarters quickly became glamorous entertainment centers that offered far more that just sex. The highly accomplished courtesans of these districts entertained their clients by dancing, singing, and playing music. Some were even renowned poets and calligraphers. Gradually, they all became specialized and the new profession, purely of entertainment, arose. It was near the turn of the eighteenth century that the first entertainers of the pleasure quarters, called geisha, appeared. The very first geishas were men, entertaining customers waiting to see the most popular and gifted courtesans.[1]

Around 1760, women began to join men in the art of the geisha and very quickly outnumbered the men. The first woman to use the term "geisha" was an Edo prostitute named Kikuya and[vague] became a full-time entertainer. Soon, many women, whether they sold sex or not, began using the term geisha. Doing so was a way of acquiring respectability and proving that they were professionals.[dubious – discuss] The geisha who worked within the pleasure quarters were essentially imprisoned and strictly forbidden to sell sex in order to protect the business of the courtesans. Geisha who worked outside the pleasure quarters, however, could do as they pleased. Eventually, the gaudy courtesans began to fall out of fashion and the geisha were seen as the chic and desirable entertainers they are in modern Japan.

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Originally posted by ImNotHere:

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Originally posted by Platonist:
It doesn’t make sense that whores, trained and certified in the future would suddenly have social status and credibility, notoriety, like celebrities of today, yes, but not power brokers of tomorrow.

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And, just because we see Inara defending her chosen profession doesn’t mean she wants to do it forever, otherwise if she did, she wouldn’t have left the house to fly on Serenity and end up on backwater moons NOT having any clients to service.

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Well, Inara's reasons for doing that have been discussed at length, elsewhere, and were clearly going to be an important element of the plot arc had the show continued.

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Originally posted by Platonist:
I guess I didn’t see the necessity of making prostitution legal and controlled by the Guild, and also attach high social status to those who were essentially sex workers, especially since there were a few instances where Inara didn’t seem to have such status on her own, like her lack of her own ticket to the Ball on Persephone, she had to be escorted by Atherton.

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Originally posted by ecgordon:
Everyone seems to be concentrating on the "sex worker" part of being a Registered Companion

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