The Millennial generation seems to be getting a lot of attention lately. I've seen videos telling the world what we are like from positive and negative perspectives. I've also seen statistics saying that Millennials are a very important group in the coming election because we are the largest living generation. We are a distinct group of people, making the world our own in an environment that is far different than that of the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Considering the fact that the dominant voices of society thus far have been that of the other generations, it makes sense that I've heard a lot more of "your generation is" than "my generation is". With the entire Millennial generation coming into adulthood now, where our voices will start to shape the world, I feel it's time that I introduce everyone to the part of the generation that I see.
For the sake of the article, I won't attempt to describe any outliers...
Hi, I'm part of the Millennial generation.
We talk about race, Pokemon, war, Disney movies, change, institutions, sexuality, music, and everything in-between; we can do that with all of our social media accounts and we definitely don't all agree. We were raised in a time where technology and innovation were the names of the game. Society was moving forward in directions the people before us had no clue could even exist. And now that we're all grown up, it's our turn to take that innovating, progressive spirit from our childhood and put it to work.
But often, innovation and change can be seen as looking into a matter too much, right? There was never a problem with the way things were done so why make a deal out of it now? It used to be just "gay", so why is it "LGBTQ+" now? It used to be "crazy", so why is it "anxiety, bi-polar and depression" (to name a few) now? It used to be "family roles" so why is it "the patriarchy" now? Weren't the old ways the better ones - the easier ways of doing things?
Come on, we were raised better than that.
Like I said, innovation was the name of the game and we were expected to be the future of that. When I talk to people going into education of some kind beyond high school, a lot of them say they were pushed to do so because their parents wanted more for them than they had. We were called the future of our nation because of how fast technology and the job market were changing while we grew up. Due to this, a lot of Millennials have within them an instilled drive to get themselves to a position that is different from their parents, each with a different background and different story to tell. Once all of those voices started interacting and clashing on the Internet, innovation had to be part of the outcome. We hear the voices and the stories that weren't shared before because now we have a way to listen.
Well, we can listen when we don't have our headphones on/in, that is.
So, we got talking and ya know what idea started to spread? Being different. Hell, being different was always praised when it came to ideas that worked and led to major inventions. Being "different" like Albert Einstein was the "different" that parents had in mind, you can't blame them for that. But change isn't limited to a science when most of the world is outside the confines of a laboratory and inside this place we call "society".
Socially, Millennials started spreading a diverse array of ideas and stories that wove into each other to bring about ideas more complex than those that could come from the people in the neighborhood talking at a barbecue. People who were reduced to stereotypes were given a voice that wasn't already labeled because of the circumstances of their birth.
As we grew up, our voices became louder. Communities filled with people whose identities were marginalized and silenced -- whose opinions were written off due to their appearance, origin, etc. -- were received. When someone is finally told that they aren't just weird or broken, they can start to push back on the norms that hinder their development as an individual. From there, those individuals and the world they lived in started changing.
To speak of some of the more recent developments, a lot of people have had enough of sexuality being straight or gay, personality being masculine or feminine. Life isn't simple enough to split it up into one side or the other -- it's a spectrum, not a binary. Kids shouldn't be pressured to play with a certain type of toy that's pink or blue because of the chromosomes they were born with. Somebody isn't inherently more dangerous simply because of the color of their skin and we should not settle for a world where they are seen as such.
But if you take nothing else away from this article, know this: simply telling someone "because that's the way it is" will not work anymore. The generation built on bringing about change is doing exactly that. We are asking our own questions and one answer is never enough because one point of view -- past or present -- is only one sentence in the vast novel of human existence.
It's one of those sweet Choose Your Own Adventure books, too.Which is why I urge you to take the same approach to this article. I am one voice among billions but there are a numerous amount that may also be shouting the same thing -- and hopefully even something different. To find a healthy way to live in a diverse society, one must listen and be heard. We're not "just kids" anymore and we will be heard because we love finding ways to make our voices louder: theodysseyonline.com
