This Real Estate’s Advice For “Single Ladies” Is Getting Slammed For Being Ridiculously Sexist

A real estate company in Bathurst has been absolutely slammed for a blog post that was intended to act as advice for “single ladies” looking to purchase property.

While Bathurst Real Estate assumably had good intentions with their article, the contradictory and outdated tone of the post was quickly called out online for being “sexist” and “incredibly misogynistic”.

This is because the now-deleted blog post, which started relatively innocently but quickly took a terrible turn only two sentences in, felt like it was plucked right out of the 1950s.

“You’re a single lady and you’re content not have(sic) a ring on your finger,” the article opened. “Not so when it comes to buying property on your own though — you may prefer the emotional and financial back-up of a spouse.”

The article went on to allege that single ladies “can go wild when buying” as a result of being “responsible only for themselves”, unlike married women who have partners and kids to consider.

Hey, @BathurstRE.

Honestly, guys, it’s 2021. This is fucking bullshit.

Please grow up. pic.twitter.com/n3HVc5JKNn

— ? MFW ? (@MFWitches) January 31, 2021

But the article doesn’t just pit single and married women against each other. No, the post then claims that all women, regardless of their relationship status, simply don’t have the same logical thinking skills as men.

“Both single and married women are well-known for reasoning with their hearts, not their heads — and many of us love to nest,” the article read. “This… can end in a big back slide when it comes to house hunting, especially when there’s no man beside you to offer logic to the situation.”

Continuing the false narrative that women can’t function without the support of men, the article then implied that women are simply just too distracted by shiny, pretty things to make rational decisions about property.

“Remember that while that cute cottage is undoubtedly just that, it also represented a big portion of your savings and hard work. Plus, you alone will be responsible for organising and paying off your mortgage,” the post said.

“So, tough as it can be, begin thinking smart,” it continued. “Aim to be circumspect and cautious; throw away the emotional investment; and lead off with sense, rather than sensibility.”

Going back to the idea of empowering women, which was what the article was originally meant to be, the post then advised that women should only spend up to 30 percent of their after-tax income on a mortgage.

“Use a free online calculator to help figure out how much you can borrow. Then, whatever you do, stand by this number (rather than a man),” it ended. “This is potentially the biggest financial decision you’ll ever make and as a single lady, the ring is on your finger when finding your dream home.”

The Backlash And Response

As expected, the article was slammed by Bathurst locals for being incredibly misogynistic, then quickly circulated online for the same reasons.

“Omg, it’s like a fucking riddle,” one person wrote in response to screenshots of the blog post. “Surely these are excerpts from their 1950s website…,” said another.

“Holy s**t it had never occurred to me that buying a property would represent a big proportion of my hard work and savings!,” one woman sarcastically commented. “I thought it would be like buying a new eyebrow pencil or baking a cake!”

Meanwhile women in same-sex relationship jokingly pondered how they would ever be able to buy themselves a home of their own: “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?”

Basically, the general consensus was that a post like this just simply would never be written about a man. No man would be advised to buy property with his head over his heart, nor would they be urged to hold off until a woman could “offer logic to the situation”.

This is embarrassing! Women reason with their hearts not their heads? Dear female citizens of Bathurst, please buy your property from a more respectful and intelligent real estate agency.

— Jane Caro (@JaneCaro) January 31, 2021

They would not speak to a Single Man this way ugh disgusting

— Fairy Godmother (@heavenlyimagine) January 31, 2021

Are you f***ing kidding me?

I don’t normally lose my cool but this is utterly prehistoric.

What were you thinking when you put this sexist, misogynistic, claptrap together?

OMG it’s the 21st century.

— Sue Barrett Better Business for Sustainable World (@SueBarrett) January 31, 2021

In response, Bathurst Real Estate deleted the post and issued an apology, before deciding to delete their Facebook page completely after receiving an onslaught of criticism, according to NCA NewsWire.

“This morning an article went up which redirected back to our website in relation to single lady post. This article was actually written by a woman, who Bathurst Real Estate outsource our blog posts to and we were unaware that this post had gone live…” the apology read.

“We apologise for any offence or upset that this article has caused and this is certainly no reflection on the personal views of any of the team at Bathurst Real Estate.”

The article had actually been outsourced to The Real Estate Voice, a Sydney-based marketing agency that supplies real estate content to a number of property sites. Yesterday, The Real Estate Voice also issued their own apology, which has since been met with its own backlash for appearing to shift blame off the company and onto the freelancer who wrote the post.

“The post, written by a freelance contributor, represented her personal experience and does not reflect the views of our business or that of our business partners,” the apology read. “We particularly apologise for any offence and distress caused to business partners who have been singled out, in particular Bathurst Real Estate.”

“The contributor was free to write it, even if it’s sexist nonsense. You chose to accept it & sell it on, thus perpetuating the narrative,” one angry commenter noted. “So Bathurst Real Estate passes the buck to you and you pass it to a freelancer. Too late. The damage is done,” said another.

But these questionable articles full of stereotypes aren’t even out of the norm for The Real Estate Voice. One quick glance over their website shows that they don’t think that most young people even know how to “do their own laundry and cook basic meals” and that “overflowing laundry basket and messy rooms are only OK for so long”.

Both Bathurst Real Estate and The Real Estate Voice were reached out to for comment. Neither responded at time of publication.