More Than Avocado Toast

I’m guessing that when most of you read that headline, you audibly groaned. “Oh great. Another article about how millennials are going to kill society and how we are entitled and rude and failing at everything. Super.” However, this article is exactly the opposite. Being a millennial and a female, it seems that I cannot go anywhere, do anything or say anything without someone informing me of my millennial-ness. But have I got news for you: millennials are no worse than any other young generation before it. We just have social media that makes it seen to a wider audience. 

A few weeks ago, I was having this conversation with my mom. I was fed up with the fact that somehow this generation had become the bad guys and become the people who were here to ruin the planet and kill the economy and many other things that are frankly ridiculous. And she honestly had some great insights. First off: stop generalizing all millennials as being entitled and lazy. Yes, there are some of theses, mostly becasue those kinds of people are everywhere and come in every age group, not just young 20 somethings. Entitled people are everywhere and they were there long before the millennials were even born, and they will be there long after all of us are dead. No matter who you are or how old you are, there is always going to be someone who is lazy and entitled and hope that everything is fed to them on a silver spoon. We have a president like that and last I checked, he wasn't a millennial. 

Second: part of it is the parents fault. My mom is from generation X. Which makes her parents baby boomers. Now, the baby boomer generation had served in Vietnam and been through the Depression and by the time they had become parents, they had a small amount to give back. They were preoccupied with the changing economy and things getting more expensive then they were prepared for; they were busy dealing with new technology and they were finally not caught up in any kind of large disaster and able to live their lives. Generation X grew up without very much parental influence and by the time they were becoming parents, they over compensated and started to parent too much. “We realized kids actually need involved parents; some just took it a little far.” She went on to explain how this resorted in the need for participation trophies, over inflating the ego of kids, and leading kids to believe they could do no wrong. Again, this isn't every millennial and generation x parent. But, it goes to show that half of the issue people are taking up with millennials, is parental fault. Yet, no one seems to be blaming them, or even including them in their trash talking. Kids do not grow up one way all on their own with no influence at all. They didn't just spring out of the womb wanting avocado toast and calling for social reform.

And finally third: all generations struggle the first time they are on their own; there just hasn't been social media to show it. At this point my mom shared a story about when she was making chicken for the first time alone, and noticed it was “bleeding” and freaked out and called her mother. Her easiest meal she would make was mac and cheese with  beans in it. Or how in between paychecks Kleenex worked well as toilet paper. These are all things millennials do today, only now we talk about it on twitter to confirm we are not alone and get some solidarity. At this time I’m sure my mom just called her friends and they had a good laugh about it. Every generation struggles with these things, only now more people just see it, thanks to social media. We  also are a generation that can laugh at ourselves, which seems to be half the reason for our posts anyway. We know how silly it it is to need to ask our parents how long bacon in the fridge is good for, or how to fill out a W2, or even if that new freckle is skin cancer or just a freckle, but we all do it, so why not share and get a laugh out of it?

The other big issue that people tend to take up with millennials is our pennant for change. The baby boomers were the last big generation to fight for change and bring about social reforms. They called for peace and no war and a more free and loving society. And maybe they didn't get all of their demands, but they did effect some change. And now, here we are, pushing for things to change. In all reality, the reason we are pushing so hard for change is becasue the people before us screwed things up so terribly.  Tell me why its so bad to fight for rape victims to get a fair trial and see their attackers put in jail. Or why its ok for people of the LGBTQ+ community to still get death threats and killed. Or why police still choose to discriminate minorities. Or why mentally ill people are allowed to get guns. Or how women still make less than men, for doing the exact same job. All of these things have been issues for a lot longer than millennials have been around to yell about them. We have just finally taken up arms to be here to make the change that future generations will benefit from. We live in a very precarious time and know that without out voices, nothing will change. 

Aside from the large issues millennials get flack for, we seem to get made fun of for even the smallest things. I read an article on fashionista.com entitled “Whats really going on with millennials and skin care?” As if some how people caring about skincare is 1. a new thing, and 2. something bad we should be ashamed of. girlboss.com has also shared several stories about how economists think we can’t buy homes anymore simply becasue we eat and spend too much money on avocado toast (which the article goes into depth on the real reason we aren't buying homes). And to really insult to injury, the pastel, baby pink shade that is very popular recently is being called “millennial pink”, even though it has been a shade around for many years and featured in several magazine spreads before it was a millennial fad.  When really, none of these things are anything new and not secluded specifically to one generation, but somehow we are the ones being “blamed” for these things. 

When it comes to millennials, whatever perceived flaws we have are considerably less to all of the things we have actually accomplished and are amazing at. That list includes: being more creative, being more entrepreneurial, making corporate jobs more personable, holding our celebrities (and president) more accountable, and we are also the generation that is the biggest advocate for human rights and equality. Now please inform me how any of this is a bad thing? 

Madey