looks like a maid

Question

looks like a maid

Accepted Answer

What does it mean when someone says a woman "looks like a maid"? The first thing it means is that the person who says that is a classist, derogatory misogynist. Secondly, it is indicative of the rot ingrained in our lexicon so deep that we are blissfully unaware of its implications.

Using 'maid', someone who is on payroll to manage a household's domestic activities like sweeping, cleaning, brooming, cooking, as an insult is not uncommon in India. For the average middle-class Indian privileged enough to employ a domestic helper, it becomes an instance of superiority to have a person "below" them they can casually deride. It elevates their own position, separating them from and rendering them better than the lower class, they believe.

And so, notwithstanding the prejudicial connotations of throwing around maid as an offensive, we have comfortably settled into the idea that domestic helpers are supposed to look and be a certain way. That their appearances aren't as neat, hygienic, beautiful or polished as ours. The "us" and "them" distinction is comforting to the status quo.

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looks like a maid

“She Looks Like A Maid.” Why Do We Use Our Domestic Help’s Name As An Insult?