Feminist's apartment advert goes viral
Finding accommodation in Berlin is notoriously tricky. But one woman on the hunt might have a particularly hard time of it, with an advert for an apartment so absurd it has gone viral.
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Mona, a 31-year-old student, is looking for a shared apartment in the Friedrichshain area of the German capital. She is a non-smoker and describes herself as “tolerant”. She'd preferably like a washing machine and is, she thinks, a clean and tidy person.
It was posted on Monday and by Wednesday her advert to find an apartment, titled “tolerant her looks for tolerant you”, had been shared nearly 25,000 times on Facebook, sparking a debate about whether it's real or not - for a number of reasons.
Firstly, Mona does not believe in money, and so is willing to pay just €5 per month in rent for a room at least 20 square metres in size. “Money is leverage used by the powerful,” she wrote in the advert. Nor does she believe in male “aggression and power play” so would like to be in an all-female flat.
Yet these cannot be any women. Her flatmates need to be “actively opposed to terrorism, war, racial fanaticism, fascism, chauvinism and American cultural imperialism".
They should also preferably be vegan and be willing to be kicked out by her at any time.
Mona understands that co-habiting can be hard. “I have to be able to say where the boundaries lie and when I do not want to see anyone.” She has had bad experiences in the past when she's asked people to leave the flat “(temporarily)” and they've stayed.
It is not all bad though, as she will chip in to internet bills, even though she believes these are the basic rights of all people and therefore should be free.
She is also handy with repairs and will sit down for a “therapeutic discussion” should fellow flatmates need it.
Comments on Facebook like “made my day” and “fake, right,” have stacked up under the 25,000 shares on the social network site. She even has what appears to be a spoof Twitter account.
Others seem to be taking it seriously, wondering how she can justify paying so little, only to have the power - a concept she disagrees with - to tell her flatmates to leave at any time.
Either way, the privacy policy of the website hosting the advert, WG Gesucht, means it's impossible to see how many offers of a room Mona has had. She is, however, looking forward to being invited for an interview.
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Mona, a 31-year-old student, is looking for a shared apartment in the Friedrichshain area of the German capital. She is a non-smoker and describes herself as “tolerant”. She'd preferably like a washing machine and is, she thinks, a clean and tidy person.
It was posted on Monday and by Wednesday her advert to find an apartment, titled “tolerant her looks for tolerant you”, had been shared nearly 25,000 times on Facebook, sparking a debate about whether it's real or not - for a number of reasons.
Firstly, Mona does not believe in money, and so is willing to pay just €5 per month in rent for a room at least 20 square metres in size. “Money is leverage used by the powerful,” she wrote in the advert. Nor does she believe in male “aggression and power play” so would like to be in an all-female flat.
Yet these cannot be any women. Her flatmates need to be “actively opposed to terrorism, war, racial fanaticism, fascism, chauvinism and American cultural imperialism".
They should also preferably be vegan and be willing to be kicked out by her at any time.
Mona understands that co-habiting can be hard. “I have to be able to say where the boundaries lie and when I do not want to see anyone.” She has had bad experiences in the past when she's asked people to leave the flat “(temporarily)” and they've stayed.
It is not all bad though, as she will chip in to internet bills, even though she believes these are the basic rights of all people and therefore should be free.
She is also handy with repairs and will sit down for a “therapeutic discussion” should fellow flatmates need it.
Comments on Facebook like “made my day” and “fake, right,” have stacked up under the 25,000 shares on the social network site. She even has what appears to be a spoof Twitter account.
Others seem to be taking it seriously, wondering how she can justify paying so little, only to have the power - a concept she disagrees with - to tell her flatmates to leave at any time.
Either way, the privacy policy of the website hosting the advert, WG Gesucht, means it's impossible to see how many offers of a room Mona has had. She is, however, looking forward to being invited for an interview.
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