What is a male maid called?

Answer 1

Here are several answer contributions from a variety of WikiAnswer users:

• You could possibly use valet, manservant, housekeeper, houseman.

• The answer depends on the context of the question.

• In Britain and America in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century, Domestic Service jobs were gender specific. Many of the jobs assigned to females included "maid" in their title as it was "a young maid(en)" who did it. (Hence: Parlour Maid, Chamber Maid, Scullery Maid, Lady's Maid, etc.) Men did not have those jobs, so there is no gender specific equivalent. There were jobs for males that women were not eligible for (for instance, Footman, Chauffer), but only some of them were rough parallels of female jobs. (For instance, a Valet was to a gentleman roughly what a Lady's Maid was to a lady; and a Housekeeper occupied the same general administrative rung as a Butler.) A "Maid of All Work" was what was employed by someone too poor to keep more than the one servant. As more and more people fell into this category, it was shortened to "Maid." Male servants in a single servant household were generally Valets (in the case of a single male employer) or Butlers (in the case of a couple). It is important to note, however, that while Valets were known to pick-up their employers bachelor pad, Butlers don't generally do basic housecleaner work. Primarily and administrative position, a butler these days would be the person who handles the arrangements with the outsourced housekeeper or cleaning firm. As males have entered into the housecleaning occupations once exclusively reserved for females, there has been difficulty in nomenclature. While males did not seem to object to being called "Nurses," or "Teachers," when they moved in to those formerly female professions, the deep gender association of the term "Maid" was seen as emasculating or demeaning by some. "Manservant" was the an early attempt to create a male parallel, but now seems pretentious to many people and is problematic in its implication tat servants are otherwise women. "Houseboy," was another parallel,but its use of the juvenile diminuative is considered demeaning to adult males. "Houseman" has a long history, but is not widely used today. If you are lucky enough to find good help, I recommend calling them whatever they prefer.

• It depends upon the circumstances. 1. As with 'nurse' and 'actor', it would be correct nowadays to say that the term is not gender-specific. Words such as 'actress' and 'male nurse' have fallen into disuse and ultra-PC terms like 'chairperson' are going the same way as educated people realise that the 'man' at the end of words like 'chairman', 'fireman' etc. is simply short for 'human' and has no gender connotation and that terms such as 'chairperson', 'firewoman' etc. are as silly as defining a woman as a 'huwoman-being' or 'huperson-being'. As the duties of a maid are generally different from those of a valet, both terms can therefore apply to either sex and so the correct term for a male performing the duties of a maid is, simply, 'maid'. 2. If one is referring to a male maid in the context of a man cross-dressing as a maid for one or more sensual, sexual, fetishistic or otherwise pleasurable reasons for either him, his partner or both, then various terms are common, depending on the power exchange involved and the level of embarrassment desired. Common terms are 'sissy maid' or just 'sissy' if the outfit is so excessively feminine that few genuine women would ever consider wearing it, 'skivvy' if the uniform is functional, 'tart' or 'slut' if the outfit is provocative or 'baby-maid' if the outfit is ultra short and more akin to a pre-school girl's party dress. Alternatively, the man so-dressed can be called by a female version of his own name such as Roberta, Henrietta, Georgette, Denise, Samantha etc. or, simply, something redolent of his status such as Fifi.

• A "maid" is exclusive language and should perhaps not be used. An acceptable term for household staff is "domestic aid". Male maid in Singapore can be hired at FCmaid.com.sg

Answer 2

You could possibly use housekeeper, manservant, houseman or butler.