Millennials. People keep complaining about us, but they created us. "Too Liberal," they say. "Too soft," they say. Well last time I checked the people complaining about us have been the ones teaching us to have open minds and that "it's okay to cry". Before this article I found myself referencing Generation Y as millennials, and I am just curious when this became an insult.

It is not surprise that every generation before us has had their share of problems and has been misrepresented or misunderstood in more than one way, but I believe that my generation has taken too many hits from people, specifically from older generations. So, I wanted to take the time to write an article about some of the misconceptions that people have about our generation.

You are all just a bunch of liberals.

I'm not really sure why this statement is used as an insult or has negative connotation in this phrase. I am liberal. There is nothing wrong with being liberal. Being a liberal basically means you have an open mind and are accepting of many ideas, people, etc. What's wrong with that? Since that's my definition of a liberal then I don't see why everyone shouldn't adopt this mind set.

Though there may be more liberals in the Millennials generation, it doesn't mean that we are all liberals. That is a ridiculous generalization, and it's one that a liberal sure as hell wouldn't make about another group of people or another generation. Would conservatives in older generations like it if we called them a bunch of homosexual racists? Probably not. So, next time think twice about how ridiculous you sound when you refer to an entire generation as being liberal like it could be a bad thing. Ha.

Your generation is too soft.

This really pisses me off. Just because our generation is more conscious of what we say and do to others, doesn't mean we are 'too soft' or overly sensitive. Even if we were overly sensitive is that bad? Is it bad to not verbally harass someone because we don't want to cause them pain? Is it bad not to assume that someone is a certain gender because we don't want to upset them? Is it bad to not make 'jokes' about certain races of people because we don't want to stereotype them? No. That's not bad and that doesn't make us too soft or overly sensitive.

Honestly, my generation is just hyper-aware of the issues in our society surrounding bullying, race, gender, sexuality, etc. so we proceed with caution when it comes to regarding those topics of issue. We aren't soft because we actually care about how our words and actions affect another human being. We are considerate and respectful and smart and kind. So next time you want to call anyone from my generation 'too soft' just think about how stupid you sound.

Now in the grand scheme of things, these problems seem minuscule compared to problems faced by other generations, but these misconceptions are annoying and quite stupid to be honest. It seems that people are confusing acceptance and consideration with being too liberal (in a negative sense) and too soft, and enough is enough.

I'm proud of how accepting and considerate my generation is compared to older generations. In this day and age you have the freedom to love who you want and to be whatever gender you choose to be. You have the freedom to be yourself. I think most of this progress is due to my generation pushing for acceptance and equally; we are a considerate bunch of human beings. So stop talking to us like we'll cry if you constructively criticize us or like our heads are in the clouds. We are tough. We are smart. We push for change and acceptance. There is nothing wrong with that.

Don't get me wrong we do have our downsides, like many generations before us did. Regardless, I am proud to be an accepting and considerate Millennial, and I hope you are too.