After reading more than half of NightWork, I have come to the conclusion that a club such as the one discussed in the book would not survive in the United States. I have two reasons for this assumption. Firstly, American women would be opposed to it, and that in itself is a strong reason. Secondly, I cannot see men in the United States spending money on simply conversation with attractive women. This reaction paper will deal with my second reason, and the next reaction paper will deal with the issue of American women not allowing it. While the Hostess clubs apparently flourish in Japan, in order to succeed in America these clubs would have to forgo the flirting and get right down to the business of sex, and I will explain why.
The business of sex is a thriving industry in the United States. From strip clubs to pimps and their women to men's magazines it is apparent that Americans, particularly men, like their women being sexually explicit.
A bouncer in front of a strip club in San Francisc...
Hostess Twinkies
HostessHowever, in Japan the sexual aspect of the Hostess clubs is almost always limited to the art of flirting with a man and making him feel like a real man, with the occasional affair or fling stemming from an encounter at the Hostess club. As American men if we go out at night to find female company we will be disappointed if all it leads to is flirting. My basic point is that when American men want female company, they want it for sex, not conversational purposes. I am not saying that sex is the only reason that men seek the company of women, just that when a man goes out at night looking for a woman, his goal is not a good conversation.
I think that the American equivalent to Japanese Hostess clubs are strip clubs, and restaurants such as the wonderful Hooters. These places are visited by men when they feel like enjoying the sight of beautiful women barely dressed dancing around them. However, if the strip clubs changed their operating policy to having their employees talk to the men and not constantly show their bodies off, business would not be as good.
When American men want to talk business after the typical business hours, or get to know each other in order to become more personal, there are unlimited possibilities, but I do not think a Japanese Hostess club would ever be on the list. When men want to talk business around beautiful women, they go to a gentleman's club or a strip club. My understanding of a gentleman's club, as explained by my grandfather, is a place where men sit and talk over drinks, and the only time women are seen is when they bring food and drinks. He also told me that sexual favors were available from any of the women, as long as you had the money. However, I cannot vouch for the credibility of that because my granddad is a little nutty sometimes. Either way, these clubs differ from a hostess club, because at the Hostess clubs the women are constantly with you, and sexual favors are not readily available.
This reaction paper is meant to clearly get one point, and one point only across. When American men want female company, they want to get some sex out of it one way or another, and conversation does not count as sex. The Hostess clubs would be a great idea if the women were either wearing barely nothing, or they liked to give out sexual favors. My second reason, concerning American women, will be discussed later.
This V-J party united patients and J.W.B. hostesse...
English: Signage for hostess bars in Kabukicho, To...