Welcome to Maid Spin, the personal website of iklone. I write about about otaku culture as well as history, philosophy and mythology.
My interests range from anime & programming to mediaevalism & navigation. Hopefully something on this site will interest you.
I'm a devotee of the late '90s / early '00s era of anime, as well as a steadfast lover of maids. My favourite anime is Mahoromatic. I also love the works of Tomino and old Gainax.
To contact me see my contact page.
The idea of a "guardian angel" is deeply important in otaku culture. The idea of an extra-dimensional figure who looks over you and protects you from harm appears all over anime and is present within the way we talk too. "Waifuism" in its traditional sense, meant choosing one girl to be your "waifu" and staying loyal to just her for at least a while. In its purest form it is a mutually exclusive relationship with a conceptual person, exclusive in that it precludes you from other erotic relationships including those in real life. While this puritanical form of Waifuism is primarily applied tongue-in-cheek, it still has observers to this day [1]. Neowaifuism arose in the mid 2010s with an influx of younger members to the extant groups, leaking terminology that doesn't ring true with younger generations. Polywaifuism is a movement that is broadly equivalent to earlier best-girling, with a harem-based twist on earlier forms. Recently Panwaifuism has arisen, which takes most of the original meaning away from the terminology, equating "waifu" with just "2D girl". While the evolution of the movement is interesting, I'm focusing on the earlier, pure Waifuism.
While taking its symbolism from marriage, Waifuism has obvious deep differences which make it more akin to the ecclesiastical devotion and abstention found in Catholic "life consecration" such as the Order of St Benedict [2]. Vowing into Waifusim separates you from worldly good and evil, creating a priestly class of observers that are separate from the world and can act as mediators. "Wizard" is a term used online to refer to digital "consecrated virgins", and is a title given to those who reach the age of thirty without having sex [3]. While it is primarily a joke and an insult, the title brings with it a degree of respect and has the connotation that is gives the dubbed extraordinary powers.
Upon admission to the monkhood, the ordained are placed under a "patron saint", which I am comparing to the virginal vows to the chosen waifu. They can now preside over their religious tasks under the protection of this superdimensional being. The daily life of a monk is often understood quite incorrectly from the reality. Most monks must work to keep the monastery running, doing chores, raising money, general maintenance. In mediaeval Britain, many abbeys ran breweries on the side, with the monks running them. As is the life of a NEET not so supernatural. His general abstention from worldly pleasure helps keeps the maintenance low, but money must be raised to keep the vitals going, and allow them to carry on with their important religious work online.
Of course Waifuism arose along with a industry that understands the concept too. The "sky girl" trope [4] follows through from a "guardian angel" as someone who devotes their life to the protection and overseeing of yours. Not all anime romance is of this kind, the vast majority is not and fulfils a much broader appeal of intradimensional relationships, even if that dimension is that of the 2D. Two common examples of the relationship type I am talking about are "android pasocoms" and maids. Both fulfil the one-sidedness of the relationship. One whose purpose of living is to serve you in a guardian form. Usually these are presented as equal relationships, ones without a power imbalance. There are of course many departures from this, but I say these to be perversions and broadly heretical. They are either impressed upon by outsiders as a misreading of the ideal, or they are a direct perversion from it for erotic effect. The former is understandable, as both gynoids and maids are inspired by stories of these power imbalances, but if you look over otaku media with them, it is quite rare for that power imbalance to be present, or at least they are separable concepts.
The idea of a personal "maid" is quite different in otaku circles than from outside culture. A "maid" is a strong archetype that follows quite strict rules, of which I shall have to elaborate on a later date, but it does not refer to the occupation of "maid in waiting" or "house maid", but to a personal assistant without ulterior motive. They may be temporary or permanent, but while they are in the role of "maid" they must keep absolute loyalty. I think that the modern otaku maid is a combination of English class-based hierarchy (domestic retinue) with Japanese honour-based hierarchy (yamato nadeshiko/bushidou), along with influence from Christian and Shinto spiritual beliefs. What emerges is something wholly different that, in their role, matches the term "guardian angel" far better than the secular occupation of "maid".
Bibliography
[1] - Modern day waifuism
/a/ waifu thread from December 2020
[2] - The Order of St Benedict
The doctrines of the order can be read about here.
[3] - Virginal Wizards
Definition 6 given by Wiktionary.
[4] - Sky Girls
Referring to the anime romance trope of the "girl who fell from the sky", this may be literal or metaphorical. A girl that appears before the hero and whose primary desire is to become his wife. See Oh My Goddess (1988) or Urusei Yatsura (1978) for some classic examples, or Noucome (2012) for a modern example.
Glossary
Waifuism - The doctrine of monogamous erotic relationships with 2D characters. Limited to one, and strictly does not permit simultaneous real world relationships. Arose on the Anglonet circa 2005.
Neowaifuism - Modern shifts in the understanding of Waifuism. Major shifts occurred circa 2012 and persist until today.
Polywaifuism - The doctrine of polygamous erotic relationships with 2D characters. This creed understands the waifu as a personal favourite from a group, but not limited to one. Common sentiment among post-2010 otaku.
Panwaifuism - The redefinition of Waifuism to understand all 2D girls as waifus. A waifu does not carry any special personal favour but can be applied broadly to "anime girls". Growing sentiment among young otaku and the broad understanding of the outside world of the term.
