Real estate agent forced to apologise for offensive, sexist post
A blog post on an Australian real estate website targeting single women buying properties has gone viral for all the wrong reasons.
The article titled "Buying as a single lady" was published on Bathurst Real Estate's website and was quickly removed after backlash on social media claimed the post was "sexist" and "misogynistic".
The piece started off on a positive note, empowering women who are planning on purchasing a property: “You’re a single lady and you’re content not (to) have a ring on your finger”. But it then took a sharp turn that angered many people online.
“You may prefer the emotional and financial back-up of a spouse,” the post reads.
The article continues to suggest single women can "go wild when buying" as they are "responsible only for themselves".
It also says women “are well known for reasoning with their hearts, not their heads - and many of us love to nest.”
Women are then issued a warning, saying property buying can quickly go south “especially if there is no man beside you to offer logic to the situation”.
The real estate agency swiftly removed the post from their website and apologised on Facebook.
“This is so misogynistic it’s almost comical,” one woman who reposted the article on Facebook wrote.
“Thanks so much for this super helpful blog post Bathurst Real Estate! I can’t wait for your next post on ‘Buying as a Single man’, Oh wait...
“Next time I go to purchase anything I’ll be sure to bring a man with me to both pay for it and also offer logic, because as you said, women are well known for not using their head and I guess none of us have any money of our own!” the bemused woman continued.
“This is the most offensive piece of s**t I have ever read,” another person wrote.
“Holy s**t it had never occurred to me that buying a property would represent a big proportion of my hard work and savings! I thought it would be like buying a new eyebrow pencil or baking a cake!” another woman wrote sarcastically.
“Does this mean that me and my partner aren’t able to buy a house because we are both women and don’t know how to use our heads?” a user asked.
Men also seemed to be equally offended by the article.
“I think they need a new password… surely this has got to be a hack from a sacked staff member,” one man suggested.
Bathurst Real Estate claimed the post was written by a female from a content marketing agency who was outsourced to create content.
The real estate agent apologised for any offence that was caused, claiming the article had gone live without their knowledge and they removed it as soon as they were aware of it.