まま — does this always mean the state is bad/undesirable, or just unchanged?

Question

靴を履いたまま部屋に入った (entered the room with shoes still on) feels neutral-to-bad, but is まま ever used for a state that's just fine as it is, with no negative implication at all?

Accepted Answer

まま itself is neutral — it just marks 'this state persists unchanged', full stop. Whether that reads as good or bad comes entirely from context/the verb involved. 靴を履いたまま入る sounds bad because entering with shoes on is a social faux pas, but 窓を開けたまま寝た (slept with the window open) can be totally neutral, or even positive if the room needed airing out. Don't bake in a negative connotation that isn't actually part of the grammar.