Line #29 Main/FrenchMaid


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6	[[quoteright:250:[[Film/{{Clue}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/french_maid.png]]]]
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8
9	->''"Everybody ought to have a maid\
10	Daintily collecting bits of paper and strings \
11	Appealing in her apron strings\
12	Beguiling in her blouse"''
13	-->-- "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid," ''Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum''
14
15	While the French Maid costume has some basis in the black and white uniforms once worn by actual maids (though [[{{irony}} not]] the original [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_maid "French maids"]]) in the 19th century, the original costumes were almost never as [[{{Fanservice}} fan servicy]] as those found in modern times. The attitude is also part of the package, inasmuch as she is essentially the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubrette soubrette]]'' of old French comedies and operas (the original character type didn't necessarily have to be a maid -- though she often was - but was always pretty and seductively flirtatious, and dressed in a fancy, abbreviated outfit; [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaby_Deslys Gaby Deslys]] was one early 20th-century actress and dancer who became famous by playing ''soubrettes''): she will be extremely flirty, often with a feather duster. [[{{Tsundere}} She also acts snippy, pert and cheeky to everyone who isn't her employer (and sometimes him too)]] and [[HaughtyHelp superior to any of the other servants]] except the butler and maybe the cook. The French Maid will speak with an over-exaggerated French accent and use GratuitousFrench.
16
17	Contrast to {{Meido}}, which is a Japanese concept developed from this one. The key difference being that a {{Meido}} is intended to be {{Moe}} and subservient, while a French Maid is sexy and saucy. Contrast even further to the SculleryMaid, who is decidedly less sexy, but has much more power in the plot.
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19	For the costume rather than the character, see FrenchMaidOutfit.
20	----
21	!!Examples
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Advertising]]
26	* Booktrack, an online bookseller, created [[https://vimeo.com/28321993 this ad]] featuring Petra Nemcova as a French maid. Bonus points for referencing the classic Maxell ad.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* The ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} {{Elseworlds}} comic ''ComicBook/CatwomanGuardianOfGotham'' was set in an alternate reality were Catwoman filled Batman's role as protector of Gotham. Where Batman has Alfred, a loyal BattleButler who acts as MissionControl and patches his wounds, Catwoman had Brooks, a maid whose main purpose seems to be [[HotterAndSexier sexing up the story]] by wearing a skimpy FrenchMaidOutfit, vaguely dusting the mansion while in [[BoobsAndButtPose suggestive poses]], and [[YouNeedToGetLaid encouraging Selina to get laid]].
31	* ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'': The Lodge family have some of these in their mansion. Once Archie was ''too attentive'' to Veronica's new French maid.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
35	* Lucy dressed in a G-rated version in one ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' strip where Snoopy wanted a "pretty serving girl" to bring his dinner.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Fan Works]]
39	* In the SlashFic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/9074998 The Killer Dame]]'' (a parody of the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS4E17TheKillingGame The Killing Game]]") which is set in a holodeck program of a [[LaResistance French village during World War 2]], Captain Janeway discovers to her shock that IceQueen Seven of Nine has been turned into a sexy French maid.
40
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
44	* The maid from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', who was transformed into a feather duster. Even moreso in the stage show, where her role is greatly expanded. She was named Babette in the stage adaptation, and named Fifi in the midquel ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeastBellesMagicalWorld''.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
48	* "Yvette, The French Maid" (pictured above) in the movie ''Film/{{Clue}}''. She also wore a relatively modest version of the sexy French Maid's outfit. [[spoiler: Although she apparently wasn't REALLY French, or a maid...]]
49	* Louise from ''Film/EightWomen'' fits here as well, though she's not as blatantly sexual (usually).
50	* ''Film/TheMaids'', who take the whole PerverseSexualLust thing too far.
51	* The 1943 movie ''Film/HeavenCanWait1943'', directed by Ernst Lubitsch, features a prime example of this trope, with the character of "Madame". She lacks the classic black and white maid uniform, but acts very flirtatiously with the main character, and has one of the most over the top (fake) french accents you're ever likely to hear.
52	* You'd expect this trope a lot in porn, and there is, although it's more common in softcore erotica. The mainstream, tame soft-core ''YoungLadyChatterley'' from the 1980s includes ''two'' examples of this type, slightly averted since the maids are [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents Cockney]], not French. But the trope is definitely played up for its erotic appeal, as the maids flirt, flounce, and repeatedly lose their uniforms.
53	* In ''Film/{{Ninotchka}}'' we get to see [[RuleOfThree three]], sexy French maids.
54	* Babbette in ''Film/ScavengerHunt1979'', who dresses in the requisite FrenchMaidOutfit, and combines this trope with BrainlessBeauty.
55	* ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' gave us[[note]] ''WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?'' [[/note]] Magenta, a cross between this trope and the CreepyHousekeeper.
56	* While the three maids in ''Film/ReadyOrNot2019'' don't wear the exact outfit, they are dressed in slinky, low-cut black dresses that are designed to show off their figures and call this trope to mind. One of them, Dora, even claims to not be a real maid, simply a dancer who Tony Le Domas hired to wear that costume for the event.
57	* ''Film/PleaseTurnOver'' has Beryl's ''Naked Revolt'' counterpart, the glamorous Madeline.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Literature]]
61	* In Creator/AaronAllston's ''Literature/GalateaIn2D'', Kevin's paintings include one of an ''extremely'' cliched French Maid.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
65	* In a long ago ''Tonight Show with Johnny Carson'' skit, Juliet Prowse portrayed a spy pretending to be a French Maid.
66	* In ''Series/AlloAllo'' Yvette and Mimi might technically have been waitresses, but they were the incarnation of this trope in everything except name.
67	* In an episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Turk fantasizes about being married to Elliot. Carla (Turk's wife) is portrayed in the same fantasy as being the maid, complete with uniform, with whom Turk is having an affair.
68	* The French TV show ''Palace'' averts this. Since it is set in a five-star hotel, there are of course a whole bunch of French maids around, but every time (OncePerEpisode) [[BreakingTheFourthWall characters comment that the shows need]] a MsFanservice or the viewers will stop watching, the girl they bring in is not wearing a maid outfit. Actually, she only wears a thong most of the time.
69	* An episode of ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' involved an expensive New York maid service that supplied maids who met the requirements of this trope.
70	* In ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryMurderHouse'', the maid seems to be this trope. She is indeed MsFanservice, to all of the males in the house. The women see her as a much older, more matronly maid. There turns out to be a very good reason for this later in the season. She also is depicted as a (relatively) [[OnlySaneMan normal person]] and is quick to point out her independence despite her job and unique predicament.
71	* Jeanette the maid in the murder mystery episode of ''Series/SavedByTheBell''. Turns out she's also a ClingyJealousGirl and is a brief suspect in the game.
72	* Used for the obligatory DoubleEntendre in ''Series/TheGoodies''.
73	** "This car has parts from all over the world. British made, German made..." ''(Bill removes girl in a FrenchMaidOutfit from the car)'' "French maid."
74	** Butler enters with two hot maids bearing tea trays. "While you are waiting sir, I thought you'd like tea and crumpets."
75	* Invoked in the ''Series/{{Decoy}}'' episode "Night Light" by a maid who speaks with a heavy French accent despite not actually knowing the language so her employer will think she's classy.
76	* Parodied in ''Series/ColdCase'' "The Pledge", where a frat pledge is dressed as french maid as form of hazing.
77	-->'''Vera:''' He's cute. French maids do it for me too.
78	* A Whammy on the ''Series/PressYourLuck'' revival was a French maid using a feather duster to erase the contestant's score.
79	* In the French TV comedy show ''Series/VousLesFemmes'', Judith Siboni seeks to spice up her sex life by [[https://youtu.be/GfDQuPuoPmU?t=2678 donning the classic French Maid's outfit]]. Unfortunately for her husband, she gets rather ''too'' much into character as a maid and begins to spot little cleaning imperfections around the house; she impatiently bats him away as she has become too intent in eliminating a stubborn stain in the carpet.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Music]]
83	* Give me a Rap MusicVideo and when discussing the man's influence, he may or may not have playboy french maids cleaning his house or servicing the guests.
84	* The music video for Music/JoeJackson's "Stepping Out" features a French maid acting out a DerivativeWorks/{{Cinderella}} fantasy.
85	* [[Music/{{Blondie\|Band}} Deborah Harry]]'s "French Kissing in the USA" depicts a number of French maids as extras.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Theater]]
89	* Magda in ''Theatre/TanzDerVampire'' doesn't wear the traditional frilly maid uniform, but she's put into an equally objectifying tavern-wench costume that suits her role as the inn's girl of all trades.
90	* Jacob (pronounced "jaw-kobe"), the CampGay, [[WholesomeCrossdresser crossdressing]] butler in ''Theatre/LaCageAuxFolles'' is an amusing, rare, technically ''male'' example flaunting a FrenchMaidOutfit in many productions.
91	* Some productions of ''Theatre/CosiFanTutte'' make Despina one of these.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Video Games]]
95	* In ''VideoGame/LauraBow: The Colonel's Bequest'', there is a stereotypical French maid named Fifi who exemplifies all of these traits.
96	* ''VideoGame/BeTrapped'' has Juliette, a maid very similar to Yvette.
97	* All female maids in ''VideoGame/TheSims'' are dressed like this. (The male maids are dressed in a FanService way as well, with an unbuttoned shirt, exposing the chest.)
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Webcomics]]
101	* In ''Webcomic/PvP'', Robbie hires a French maid called Suitecannes (pronounced Sweet Can) to staff his mansion. It turns out she was a call girl who dressed as a maid because she thought it was his fetish.
102	* In ''Webcomic/HeldWithin'' Strip #27 Susie accidentally wishes that her genie girlfriend Jenny summon a teacher that has been giving Susie a hard time, and turn her into a French Maid. Jenny, of course, [[http://www.sexyfantasycomics.com/?page_id=368 does so.]] When the teacher admits to blackmailing students into having sex with her for passing grades, Susie also makes her [[http://www.sexyfantasycomics.com/?page_id=381 speak only (bad) French.]]
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Western Animation]]
106	* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Invasion of the Ferb Snatchers", Major Monogram hired two French Maids to clean the secret lair.
107	* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', where Wilma had Betty pretend to be a French maid to impress [[AdamWesting Stony Curtis]].
108	* ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'': When Jane goes shopping for a robot, in the first episode ("Rosey the Robot"), one of the models is a French maid robot in a metallic French maid outfit.
109	* A ''WesternAnimation/SnooperAndBlabber'' cartoon had the detectives dress as a butler and French maid respectively in order to guard the jewels of a matron whose birthday was being celebrated.
110	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / FrenchMaid