MAIDS x Me x NY TIMES

6/25...The New York Times (perhaps you've heard of it?) investigates the globalization of maid cafes with the help of a Very Special Friend.

“The concept started off as a club for the loneliest guys in the world,” said Patrick Macias, editor in chief of Otaku USA magazine. “Here at last was a place where single young otaku men could go and interact with kind women, and also get lukewarm hamburgers and lousy cake.”

Link: 'Service With a Wink to a Japanese Fad'
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Comments

[Marxy]

Oh, MORE-ay.

You know what I realized? The whole cloying "I am at your service thing" works in Japan because the "culture" is still pretty friendly to the idea of subservient women. Graft that onto equality-loving America, and it just seems like some creepy ironic throwback.

[Patrick Macias]

Personally, I think people are dying for even semi-decent service with a smile here. But, yeah, there's something really regressive - and flat-out not sexy - about a white woman in a maid uniform.