As millennials, we are criticized daily. From our attitudes on life, to how much we drink, and of course how we interact with the opposite sex. Article after article is written on why the hook up culture of our generation is so detrimental. I have read articles that claim our generation will wind up alone because we cannot form relationships. That could not be farther from the truth.
As I watch my friends twist their way through this confusing time in our lives, I am seeing strong, beautiful people forming.- young adults who know what they want in life, people who know what matters to them. Is a culture of people so sure of who they are a bad thing?
I often listen to my friends speculate about having a boyfriend, yet the conversation always ends like this, “I don’t have time for a boyfriend anyway.” Our generation is driven and determined to succeed. Adding in the responsibility of nurturing a relationship is just not a priority at the moment.
Relationships take time and effort, and starting a new one takes even more time. Overwhelming amounts of credits, budding careers, part time jobs, grad school, greek life, sports teams, clubs, events and internship our generation is lucky if we even have time to grab a beer at Jack’s happy hour!
This means that people who do get into relationships know it’s worth it. Among my taken friends, including myself, I see some of the strongest bonds between people. People who really do have a connection, who chose to be in relationships because they know it is worth putting in the time and effort.
As we take less time to learn from relationships we take more time to learn who we are and what we actually want, whereas generations before us have had it hammered in their head they must find a spouse, get married and have kids, our generation’s hook up culture does not condone the opposite of this but just promotes focusing on your happiness.
According to a poll done by Monitoring The Future they found that 78 percent of high school seniors females and 70 percent of high school senior males still put getting married as a top priority. Marriage is still important to a majority of the millennials; we are just choosing to take longer to find the right person.
Even so, marriage should not be looked at as the determining factor as to where everyone should end up. Marriage is a somewhat unrealistic dream to reach for. The idea that you will find one person that you will grow and change with in the same way is somewhat far fetched. Our generation has either seen first hand or watched a friend’s parent’s marriage fall apart. Divorce has become a common thing.
Knowing all the emotion that goes into a divorce, it is no wonder our generation fears marriage and commitment. Is it really better to have loved and lost when you can potentially loose half of everything you own? No one ever said marriage was some part of life you had to go through, it is not like walking or learning to drive. It is not the end of the world if millennials choose not to get married.
Not only is the hook up culture good for this generation to learn about themselves and focus more on their careers, it is also empowering to women specifically. The hook up culture is good for women because it tells the world we can enjoy the same things men do. For the longest time, men could enjoy a guilt free one night stand and the girl was always left feeling alone and used.
These are natural urges. Why should it be so taboo for both men and women to satisfy them? You eat when you’re hungry; you might have safe sex when the mood strikes you. The hook up culture promotes equality, among the sexes and removes the issue that being in the mood is something you just have to learn to shut off. We are human; we have urges!
It is clear that there are problems in the world. There’s income inequality, tension between nations, corrupt governments, corrupt businesses, gender inequality and still issues with race. Our generation is getting take on these issues.
