Dr. Akiko Takeyama, a cultural anthropologist from the University of Kansas, joined us on Friday 8th July to provide a lecture titled “Staged Seduction: Selling Dreams in a Tokyo Host Club”.
Dr. Takeyama gave us a whistle-stop tour of the complexities of commodified selfhood in the fantasy space of a host club for both hosts and their female clients, and illustrated the significant amount of emotional and physical work that goes into selling dreams.
Her talk inspired much discussion and new ways of thinking about the work hosts do.
Thank you Dr. Takeyama for such a fascinating afternoon!
