竹宮惠子
Anime and manga scholar Susan J. Napier argues that butler cafés represent a widening of "otaku" culture to be inclusive of girls and women, but notes that the popularity of butler cafés does not necessarily represent a loosening of the culture's gender roles and expectations, stating that "maid and butler cafés, if anything, are reinforcing gender distinctions." Manga artist Keiko Takemiya "does not place great cultural significance" on butler cafés, but argues that they "allow Japanese women a chance to be served and escape their traditional role of serving men." Claire Gordon of "Slate" cites the all-Western staff of Butlers Café as functioning as a form of fantasy fulfillment, allowing its largely Japanese clientele to interact with a "hyperbolic, hypermannered extreme" of a stereotypical alluring Western male.