Estate agents across England will be banned from using the term ‘Master Bedroom’ over its supposedly racist connotations as the Black Lives Matter purges continue to sweep through the country.
Prospective homebuyers will be given tours of “primary” or “principle” rooms instead of the traditional “master bedroom”, as estate agents fear that the demographic of their clientele is increasingly shifting to politically correct and easily offended Millennials.
The executive chairman of Wetherell, an estate agent in Mayfair, Peter Wetherell told The Times: “These changes are being driven by political correctness and dramatic transformations in the buyer demographic across prime central London,” he said.
“The typical buyers are now aged from their early twenties to their mid-forties and from all over the world. This young demographic tends to be very broad-minded and find any form of sexism or racism deeply offensive,” Wetherell added.
David Westgate, the group chief executive of the Bristol-based estate agent chain, Andrews, said that they are considering the nomenclature shift as well, saying “the sentiment behind the Black Lives Matter campaign has helped us all be more aware of our behaviour. We can all do more to make sure people are treated with respect.”
“The word master does carry historically racist undertones,” said the director of Benham and Reeves estate agents in London, Marc von Grundherr, adding that the company is considering a ban on the phrase in order to prevent offence being taken from clients.
The move follows the Houston Association of Realtors in the United States announcing last week that they would remove the word “master” from certain bathrooms and bedrooms over its supposed historical links to slavery amidst the Black Lives Matter push to erase any vestiges of the Confederacy.
There has been some pushback from estate agents in the United Kingdom, however, as the phrase wasn’t in common use until 1925, according to Merriam-Webster — long after slavery was abolished in Britain and the British Empire.
Trevor Abrahmson, the managing director of Glentree International, a north London estate agency, said: “The phrase master bedroom wasn’t used until the early 20th century. If the woke liberal elite want to equate that with slaves and masters, that is ridiculous.”
Edward Heaton, the founder of Heaton & Partners, added: “It is ludicrous that we should be expected to ignore our history and heritage to placate a vociferous minority.”
Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka
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