Forum - View topicMaid in the USA - A Visit to Royal/T
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FeralKat Posts: 258 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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My sentiments exactly. Maid Cafes are degrading in my eyes, whether they are in Japan or not. Why would a girl want to lower herself like that? |
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| dormcat Encyclopedia Editor  Posts: 7336 Location: Hsinchu City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Because, for girls in Japan and elsewhere in the world (including many developed nations), there's a job that pays less, with longer working hours, and expects you to offer sexual service. By the way, if one wants to learn more about the realistic aspects of a modern Japanese maid cafe and not those simply trying to increase sale numbers, I suggest reading Maid Shokun! by Akira Kiduki. |
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| Cloe Moderator  Posts: 2664 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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I can see where you're coming from on this, and I have to admit that during my interviews I asked some of the maids questions about their uniforms with a bit of a feminist slant. But--for these girls, at least--the outfits are just part of a job they really seem to enjoy, and more than one girl expressed the sentiment that the maid outfits made them feel more confident than their normal daily wear. My personal thoughts on the Tokyo maid fetish set aside, I don't see very much harm in the Royal/T uniforms. They're gimmicky, yeah. But not degrading. |
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eviltimes Posts: 113 Location: Callisto |
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That's Funny !!! |
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| nobinobita Posts: 74 |
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Oh man, I'd go just to see the art alone. The maids are a bonus. There's an upcoming Murakami exhibit at the MOCA in Brookyln. It was reported here on ANN a few months ago: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ But i just wanted to remind people that it's coming right up now. |
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| FeralKat Posts: 258 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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| \Double post. My bad. Last edited by FeralKat on Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| FeralKat Posts: 258 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Touché.  |
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TsubomiKoneko Posts: 75 |
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Have you looked at the full sized image of her? There's nothing wrong with her.  If you only look at that thumbnail on the sidebar it makes her look odd because the image is being squished by bad resizing. |
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FMPhoenixHawk Posts: 22 Location: Michigan |
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| An interesting idea. I don't think it will last long in LA, but a good try. | ||||||
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Zin5ki Subscriber Posts: 2185 Location: London, UK |
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| I watched something called "Maid in Akihabara" once. I don't know if I'd like maid cafés; my social skills are such that if possible I'll always order refreshments from vending machines instead of waiting staff. | ||||||
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Moomintroll Posts: 1008 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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I can't imagine they'd be likely to say any differently under the circumstances (personally, I've yet to encounter a waitress who genuinely enjoyed her job but I don't suppose too many of them would have admitted that whilst being interviewed at work). As dormcat has pointed out, people will put up with a lot if the alternative is an even worse job or no job at all.
The harm is (aside from incremental sexual objectification of women in general and women of East Asian ethnicity in particular - arguments, perhaps, for another day) that we have on this thread way more posts discussing the looks of the "maids", or else heavily implying that the person making the post would visit this gallery for the women alone, than we do posts discussing the art being exhibited. But if I understood your interview correctly, the establishment was intended primarily to act as an arts centre and the maid thing was a marketing gimmick. In other words, the pandering devalues the worth of the project because the pandering has replaced the project as the focus. It would be interesting to hear what the gallery owner's thoughts will be a month or two from now when she realises that most of her clientelle are drooling fanboys who've come to stare at the girls she hired as set dressing rather than the art collection she wanted to display.
Degradation, in this instance, may be in the eye of the beholder. In any case, I can't help but think that the fact that about three quarters of the anime community warmly endorses this kind of thing whilst the other quarter shakes its head but generally says nothing just might contribute to the sort of atmosphere where an ANN news story on a suspected suicide victim results in a barrage of posts attacking the missing girl's looks. |
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| sam18x Posts: 15 |
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I think that this is because this is a thread on ANN. People visiting ANN generally don't need any hints about what maid cafes are, as opposed to what the "superflat" art style is. I think very few of us are all that prepared to meaningfully discuss the art (certainly not me), hence we talk about the maids. I'm posting from work so I'm a little afraid of clicking on the thumbnails, but I really don't think the point of the maid outfits (in *this* case) is sexual ...anything. From the thumbnails those outfits look ...cute. That's about it. They don't reveal anything. I think they're just meant to evoke the impression of maid cafes in Japan, and thus persuade more people to come. Or is simply the concept of being a maid degrading? I wasn't aware that it was... |
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| dormcat Encyclopedia Editor Posts: 7336 Location: Hsinchu City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Well I was 10% joking and 90% serious. Young women in Japan are expected to get married ASAP, and if being a maid is the first step of financial independence I can't see this job "degrading" in any way.
You are teaching a fish how to swim. Ask the author of this report where she got her tickets for © MURAKAMI at LA.  |
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| Cloe Moderator Posts: 2664 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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You're a doll. Thank you! |
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| Ari-chan Posts: 158 Location: Florida |
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I would think the appeal in wearing a maid outfit comes for it simply being a cute and sexy outfit that you can never get away with wearing outside of that sort of setting. These days older girls don't dress in frills or cutesy dresses unless they have absolutly no fear of getting odd looks from people. It's all jeans and tank tops, but not frilly skirts and dresses. Working at a maid cafe I would think for some gives them the opportunity to wear a cute outfit without the mean looks. To feel more feminen. It's also an attention getter. Lots of girls like getting that attention where they know guys think they look cute. Sure they may be fap fodder in the eyes of many that visit, but if you don't think about that too much then it's tolerable. As a girl myself who works in food I would much rather work as a maid than have to wear a greasy visor with a uniform that makes me look like a very feminin man. Besides I've gotten those sexual harassment issues at the place I work at a lot of times, and I'm not dressed cute. If I knew if they hired American girls I would totally be all for it. But I guess you have to Asian. I really would not say that they're lowering themselves. They have a look and appeal and are smart enough to use it to their advantage. It's no different from working at a Hooters, or a male working at a Chip n' Dales. Besides like already stated there are many jobs out there that are even more degrading. Now if the girls were giving physical sexual services to the customers or wearing some of the other more risque cafe uniforms (mirror floor kinda thing) in Japan, then it would be degrading. But just wearing a maid dress and saying master hear and there isn't that bad. You have to treat customer a certain way no matter what job you go to. |
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