Title：メイドさん Maid-san
Material：デジタルプリント
Size：H710mm x W450mm x D20mm
友達に誘われてメイドカフェに行った。メイド達が、「ライブ」で、満面の笑みで振り付けを可愛くこなすのを見て、私は今まで感じたことのない困惑を覚えた。メイドから目をそらしたくなるような、それでいてじっと見ていたいような感覚だった。
私が育った環境は、自らの望むキャリアを選び、女性のステレオタイプや女性差別を越えようとする女性がほとんどだったし、私もそういう教育を受けてきた。しかし、メイドカフェでは、女の子は、お尻が見えるミニスカートに大きなリボンとフリルで、客をご主人様と呼び、笑顔でかわいく給仕する性的商品として働く。私が今まで直接目にしてこなかったステレオタイプの女性像の塊を突きつけられ、驚き困惑したのだ。
今回の作品ではその困惑を視覚化した。眼の焦点が合わなくなり、メイドの像がガタガタとブレつつも、どこか吸い込まれるような感覚だ。
可愛くてデレデレしてしまうかもしれないメイドだが、女性にとっては困惑、違和感、時に憤りを感じる対象であるということを知ってもらいたい。そして、メイドの女性像は誰かが勝手に作り上げた理想にすぎない。実際の女性像は女性の数だけ多様だ。メイドの女性像を一般像として女性に期待・強要することの危うさを、作品を通して伝えたい。
I went to a maid cafe in Tokyo invited by my friend. Maid cafes are cafes with a concept where female maids serve the customers, and they are famous in modern Japanese culture. Watching the maids perform cute choreography with big smiles during what they call their “live show”, I felt a perplexity that I had never felt before. It was a sensation that made me want to look away from the maids, and yet also made me want to keep watching.
I grew up in an environment where most women chose the careers they wanted and tried to surpass female stereotypes and gender gaps. I also have been educated that way. However, in maid cafes, girls work as sexual products in costumes with big bows, frills, and miniskirts that almost expose their hips, calling their customers “masters” and serving them cute and smiling. I was confronted with a collection of stereotypical female images that I had never directly experienced or seen. This left me shocked and bewildered.
In this work, I visualized that bewilderment, a sensation as if my eyes lost focus making the image of the maid shaky, yet also making me drawn to them.
Although maids appear cute and endearing, I want people to understand that for women, such stereotypical figures evoke confusion, discomfort, and sometimes even resentment. Furthermore, the images of the maids are nothing more than an ideal that someone constructed. The actual ideals of women are as diverse as the number of women. Through my work, I want to convey the potential harm of generalizing the images of maids and imposing them on women.
Artist：江原 理子 Riko Ehara
2004年生まれ。今年秋からニューヨーク大学に進学予定。
Born in 2004, Riko Ehara will attend New York University starting this fall.