- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
Agreed. This dining experience was profiled ages ago in just about every feminist 'zine available, as well as some mainstream magazines. C'mon, tell me you heard about it!
I was taking classes at a university two years ago and was constantly being approached by earnest young hippies imploring me to sign petitions banning the practice in Seattle. Why? These women are not sex slaves - they are paid well and do it willingly.
Food and sex are linked in a way that is difficult ot explain and impossible to do away with (ESPECIALLY in Japanese culture). This is just a very unsubtle way to make money off of it. Don't tell me sashimi doesn't make you think of oral sex - it's MEANT TO make you think of oral sex.
I think the problem so many people have with the practice has to do with the fact that the woman is lying still, and is passively allowing the activity, rather than dancing, wrapping her naked body around a pole. But there's very little difference in terms of objectification - the gyrating stripper actually has about as much say in her own destiny as the nude woman covered in raw fish - that is, it's her choice, and she can leave at any time.
Sanitation note: There usually is a barrier between the sashimi and the woman's skin - Saran Wrap, or something of the sort. All depends on city sanitation laws.
