Chronicles of the Crone Wars: The Art of Seduction

There was palpable excitement in this crowded meeting.

Martine rises to lead the meeting:

“You see the successes we have had..”

Cheers and applause breakout….

“Yes yes but there is more. Tonight’s session will answer the question:

Seduction is the answer.”

The room quieted. A voice from the back of the room:

“Aren’t we too old for seduction? When I was nineteen I got an A in my college by seducing the…”

“Never mind Lucy. We’ll hear that story later. To answer your question, older women can have the edge over bouncing boobs and dewy skin. I know Hollywood would have you believe that all men only want young women, but there are many older women who capture the attention of men of all ages.”

Our fiery redhead Maxine has been studying the history and practice of the Geisha.

Maxine stands and smiles. “ I know some of you think of Geisha’s as highly painted prostitutes. That is not who they were. Their history is misunderstood.

Maxine spoke with her Nashville lilt, but the women in the room were glued to her every word.

It is our age that gives us the edge. Allow me to introduce you to the story of the Oldest living Geisha. Etsuko Noda.

As Maxine put down her notes she turned to the door of the adjacent room. In walks Etsuko Noda. She stood before the gathered women, her back straight despite her age, her kimono pristine, and her fan resting delicately between her fingers. She filled the room with the smell of jasmine. The dim light revealed the eager faces before her.

In a soft clear voice, “ I am Etsuko Noda.”

I realize that I am not what you were expecting this evening. I know that many of you are seasoned veterans of life—widows, retirees, former politicians’ wives, and women who had spent decades watching power slip away. Now you want to take it back. Some of you have wealth and connections, and experience, but what you lack now is direct access to power.

The women gazed at this beautifully appointed woman wearing the accoutrements of the Geisha. She used her fan and tapped it to punctuate key points.

"You believe power belongs to those who seize it," she began, her voice calm but commanding. "That is a misconception.

Power belongs to those who are the objects of desire. It belongs to those who make men hungry to be in their company, seek their approval, and their guidance.

And how do we make them need us?"

A woman with silver-streaked hair raised an eyebrow. "Charm?"

Etsuko Noda smiled. "Charm is for girls. We are practitioners of seduction."

A murmur of amusement rippled through the gathering.

"The first rule," she continued, pacing slowly among the seated women, "is mystery. We have lived long enough to know that men assume they know everything. Let them believe this. But reveal only what serves your purpose. Holding back all the story is more effective than telling the whole story.”

A woman with sharp eyes nodded in understanding. "So we never answer directly?"

"Only when it suits us." Etsuko moved across the room to a woman in pearls. "A well-placed pause, a tilt of the head, a knowing smile—these are worth more than a thousand words.

Be unreadable.”

Maxine interrupts. “Just like avoiding the tells in Poker.”

Women smiled as they remembered the lessons in Poker they had already received.

Etsuko continues. “ Power is in being a question that no one else can answer."

She gestured toward a woman in this room.

"You. What do you say if a man asks if you love him?"