With the word “maid,” most people instantly think about anyone who cleans homes for a living. However, not everyone does the same in the cleaning industry, and not everyone calls themselves the same way. All this opens up some important questions.
What’s the best way to address people who clean houses for a living? Is “maid” an outdated way to address us? The company’s name may already hint at the answer! But it’s worth it to dive further into the topic!
Is it rude to call someone a maid? Let’s find out!
Why do we address home cleaners as “maids”?
The term “maid” has a long and complicated history. Maid is short for maiden because they were young or unmarried women that served with several housework tasks.
However, not every maid was a cleaner, but all maids served the house somehow. For example, a “lady’s maid” would be more like a personal assistant than a cleaner. In a few words, “Maid” was used as a general term for women serving a house.
What’s the issue with the word “maid”?
The issue with the word might come from the former status of domestic helpers inside the house. Long story short, domestic helpers weren’t always the happiest people in the household. They lived inside the home and worked long, dealing with issues like underpayment and wrong treatments.
Also, gender-based terms like “maid” or “cleaning lady” would be inaccurate. Not only women work as home cleaners!
Then, why are we Merit Maids?
The meaning of many words depends on how you use them! Calling a home cleaner a maid isn’t offensive if you do it respectfully! At least, our cleaners won’t find it rude if you call them maids!
As mentioned above, most people understand that a maid is any person who cleans homes to make a living. That’s what we do, we are proud of it, and we want to communicate it to each one of our clients.
However:
We understand why other people might choose a gender-neutral word or a different term to refer to people in the industry. Other words to call a maid would work perfectly. For example, house cleaner, professional cleaner, or even cleaning technician!
Being a maid is like any other job!
Regardless of the word they use, some people just don’t like the whole idea of hiring a professional home cleaner. Is it wrong to pay someone to scrub your toilet? Our cleaners are always happy to clean your home—this is how they make a living!
Some homeowners may feel like cleaning is their chore and theirs alone. However, there is nothing wrong with hiring someone to clean your home, as explained here! Paying someone to clean your home should be like getting a haircut or visiting the dentist!
If you are wondering if cleaning services are for you, try any of our high-quality cleaning services. No need to sign a contract!
Merit Maids is proudly a maid service!
Being a maid also means helping homeowners to spend time on the things they love! In that case, Merit Maids is proudly a maid service! We can clean your home for a special event or help you with the regular chores!
