Male domestic worker or personal assistant For the novel by Ferdinand Oyono, see Houseboy (novel).
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Houseboy" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.jpg) Houseboy with child in New Guinea, c. 1930s | |
| Occupation | |
|---|---|
| Occupation type | Domestic labour |
| Activity sectors | Housework |
| Description | |
| Related jobs | Maid |
A houseboy (alternatively spelled as houseboi) is a term which refers to a typically male domestic worker or personal assistant who performs cleaning and other forms of personal chores. The term has a record of being used in the British Empire, military slang, and the male LGBT community.
United Kingdom
Historically, houseboy was a term used in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for a male domestic servant. He was usually, but not always, a native person who worked for a British family living in the non-British regions of the empire. A female housecleaner was termed a housegirl. Both sexes often wore uniform, due to their status as domestic servants.
Military slang
Houseboy was also used as an American slang term originating in the Second World War for a young teenager who helped American soldiers perform basic responsibilities like cleaning, laundry, ironing, shoe-shining, running errands, etc. The British English term for this occupation was 'Batman'.
Gay slang
A houseboy, as used by members of the LGBT community, refers to a young man who performs domestic work, where the employment normally has an erotic, though not necessarily sexual, aspect.
See also
- Housekeeper
- Fagging
- wikt:Garçon, the French word for "boy", also used as an occupational title
- House officer, previously "houseman", various grades of doctor in British hospitals
- House slave, as opposed to field slaves, during the period of slavery in the United States
References
- "Would You Mind Disrobing, James? - NYU Livewire". journalism.nyu.edu. Archived from the original on 21 November 2014.
- "Please check the URL for proper spelling and case sensitivity". Houseboy.com. Retrieved 22 September 2018.