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「私から補足すると、今の時代に女子を接客のメインにさせて男受けを狙うと色々とうるさいんだ」

How should I parse the bold part? Is it AをBにする construction (make A into B)? Or is メインにする considered to be an intransitive verb? If it is the former, why is 使役態 (させる) used in this sentence? Should the intended literal meaning be "let someone else make girl the main part of customer service" (which sounds a bit strange)? If it is the latter, does メインにする simply mean "do the most of"?

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    This seems to me like a mix-up of 女子を接客のメインにして and 女子に接客のメインをさせて.
    – aguijonazo
    Dec 9, 2021 at 16:38

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First, the meaning of 'メインにさせて' is not different from 'メインにして' in this context.

It can be considered as a result of confusion, as mentioned in the comment. Another possibility might be 'メインに(で)接客させて'. Even if it is actually strange when you think about it, hearing 'メインにさせて' in conversation would not surprise me.

Or using させる has an effect of evading responsibility in a vague way. As you have guessed, it would literally mean 'let someone make it that the girls do the main part of customer service', implying that the speaker is not the one who did it. (Note the service by girls is considered as something to be accused here.)


This question is partially related in discussing the case where にする/にさせる mean the same. (Not sure メインにする might count for an example of this.)

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