Guys. I have an important announcement. There's something the internet wants us to know.
They just keep coming!
If the internet says it's true, it must be true.
Wow, seems to be a common cheap internet journalism trick to stab at our generations dating/romance practices huh?
These articles paint pictures of loveless sex-based agreements, quickly falling apart relationships, and relationships hindered by the BIG, OPPRESSIVE, MORALLESS, TECHNOLOGICAL PRESENCE IN MILLENIAL'S LIVES.
We're "afraid of commitment" and "failing traditional dating." We're "losing love" and "chivalry is dead." We're not getting married.
These authors YEARN for black and white images of the 1950s, girls in poodle skirts sharing milkshakes with dapperly dressed young men. When men held the door open for ladies and paid for meals. "Why can't dating be like this."
Let's set a couple of things straight.
Millennials have been stunted since the beginning of the race. Baby Boomers are getting divorced at an inclining rate, outshining both previous generations and current married youth (The Washington Post). This means maybe, just maybe, an unstable foundation could've started at home , not on account of the internet. Coming from a separated home (which more than half of US kids today do, (Pew Research)) stereotypically has clear-cut effects on a child's future relationships. According to Marripedia, a child coming from divorced parents are much more hesitant to marry, to trust, and hold an all around negative attribute to marry. Which could be why "an unprecedented portion of millennials will remain unmarried through age 40" (Bentley University).
Maybe we are a generation losing the values of "traditional romance." And maybe that's a good thing.
We lose chivalrous antics for a feeling of balance and equality.
Women have the power to act and speak as they please, without feeling the need to suppress common "male traits": dominance, strength, power, passion.
Men get to feel at ease and comfortable, opening up every concern and emotion that would stereotypically be categorized as feminine: love, worry, sensitivity, fear.
We used to paint a face of someone who we weren't, follow guidelines set forth by parents, and "do as we're told" or what we should do.
Now we are real. We come as we are. We find who can accept and love us as who are, who doesn't have expectations other than to love and be loved. To respect and be respected. To have and to hold.
And please, please, know that they didn't stop making milkshakes in the 1950s. Fun fact: you can still buy one. There are many black and white filter options on a smartphone. You can still wear a poodle skirt if you want.
You can also get rid of that annoying nostalgic holier than thou attitude.
