Although it's normal for the new generation to be criticized by the last, millennials just can't seem to catch a break. Every time I get on social media I see a new critique of our generation, and to be honest it's getting ridiculous. One critique that has particularly bothered me is that millennials ruined dating. Yeah, people actually credit millennials for destroying love. This opinion can stem from not understanding millennial slang to just be misinformed, which is fine. What isn't fine is that people would rather brand us as romantic heretics before trying to understand what millennial relationships are actually like.
For instance, people don't understand "talking." Talking is the stage in a relationship that is before things become serious or official. You can equate this with the idea of going on dates but not going steady yet. This stage is for when you just meet someone and want to get to know them before jumping into a relationship. People usually talk for weeks or months at a time before becoming official so that they are ready for that commitment. Although a lot of people think the talking stage is dumb, it just goes to show how much effort millennials put into dating.
People also think that millennial relationships lack romance, but many of us really enjoy going on traditional dates. Traditional dates (dinner, dancing, etc.) are great. The thing is, staying in is also great. I recently saw someone complaining about watching Netflix as a date, which was odd to me because doing that sounds really fun. I love showing people my favorite movies, especially if I'm romantically interested in them. Netflix is also pretty cheap. We're broke college kids, after all. I don't mind ordering a pizza and watching free movies.
The way that millennials communicate is different, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Texting or Snapchatting someone a compliment is just as nice as saying it in person, especially when you don't have to wait till the next day to say it to them. Flirting with someone through technology can also be a great way to pick up hints. For instance, if that special someone isn't replying to any of your messages, that probably means they're not into you. Since that was done through text, you can skip the whole awkward fake-nice phase where they turn you down in person.
This doesn't mean that people don't get asked out in person. Usually, texting or Snapchatting is a precursor to hanging out in person, and thankfully by that time we know if that person likes us or not based on the conversations we have through technology.
I've also seen complaints about our dates not meeting our parents. I get this, times were different when the older generation was growing up. There were no cell phones to stay connected so people had to meet their children's dates to ensure they weren't murderers, and if they were, the parents would at least know what they looked like. To be clear, I don't think this concern is misplaced. The world we live in is crazy. I do think, however, that it can be a little weird to meet the parents on the first date. Things usually aren't serious yet during the first date, and meeting the parents is a big deal. For me, it's really weird to meet the parents on the first date unless my date and I have been talking for a long time beforehand. I would much prefer to take a relationship slow before deciding if we're serious enough to meet the parents.
The whole issue is that people don't understand millennial relationships. Our relationships have a lot more depth to them than what people think, and I wish they would ask what it's all about before deciding that millennials suck at dating.
