During WWII, prostitutes—not geisha, but actual prostitutes—marketed themselves to American GI's. This became a problematic impression of what a geisha's life was supposedly like.
Then came along the 1997 New York Times bestselling novel Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden. Hey, he interviewed a real-life geisha, he has a M.A. in Japanese history. Should clear things up, right?
Wrong.
Today in college we were to critique each others projects in Design Fundamentals for the first time. The project was to draw an asymmetrical and a symmetrical picture. He explained to us why critiquing is important. (It prepares us for interviews, presentations, and having an open mind.) I have a tendency not to speak-up in these sort of situations. I am not a confrontational person so this is a little bit of an uncomfortable process for me on both ends.
