Online dating is steadily becoming more widely accepted. The well-known paid websites, such as Match.com and eHarmony, are here to provide actual companionship and, ideally, a life partner. Such mediums work well for people that work a lot, don’t go out much, or just are not generally good at meeting people. On the flip side, there is the wholly superficial option of Tinder. Tinder is the only place where judging a book by its cover is actually encouraged. Users see one to six pictures of a potential mate on their smartphones, and swipe right for yes, or left for no. It has, in part, expedited the dating process. If two people match, they can begin messaging each other. The problem with it is that people (men) generally use it as a means for “hook ups”, or one night stands.
There is nothing necessarily wrong with casual sex, provided it is had safely, but Tinder has become an avenue for men to throw all respect for women out the window and open the conversation with “Hey, wanna [expletive]?”
One can argue that Tinder was not created as a “one-night stand app”; nevertheless, that is what it has become. It not only personifies the superficiality of American culture, but also harbors some of the most forthright, disgusting, and disrespectful men one can ever come into contact with. One of the many wonders of the internet is that people can say and do things they would never say to a person face-to-face because they are protected by a computer screen or an iPhone. This is the reason that cyber-bullying has become a national problem, and the reason people seem to think they can say whatever they want to women on Tinder.
Chivalry is a topic tossed around these days. Some say it is dead, some say it is not. Some say the women of the millennial generation do not deserve it because of the way that they act. Some say the men of the millennial generation have lost all capacity for chivalry. Whatever the case, one can just look at how times have changed. For example, in the years of post-WWII America, men took off their hats around women, stood up from a table as a woman arrived and sat down when she sat down, and women were generally treated with more respect. Granted, women were still, for the most part, born into the life of a homemaker, but regardless, these years seem to be the “golden age” for chivalry.
These days, those aforementioned manners have been tossed out the window. So, take chivalry out of the picture and look at it as just general respect. Women, men, children, anybody deserves the same respect as anyone else. Instead of looking at who is to blame or what went wrong with Generation Y, people need to stop hiding behind their phones and actually think about the things they are saying. Despite the trend, it is never okay to say to a person you’ve never met, “Do you like dragons? Because I’m going to be dragon these [fill in the blank].” It is never okay to send an unsolicited picture of bare genitalia. It is never okay to treat people, women or men, as though they are an object for sexual conquest whose feelings or opinions are nonexistent.
Whether it is chivalry, respect, or general kindness, it seems the members of Generation Y have lost it all. We, as people, need to start actually viewing others as they really are: people. People with the same feelings and insecurities as everyone else. Chivalry is a hot button topic that everyone seems to have an opinion on. But, if it really is dead, Tinder pulled the trigger.
