Oh, Millennials.
Entitled. Narcissistic. Lazy. Impatient. Fragile. And… Selfies.
These are just some of the words often used to describe millennials.
A bit harsh, don’t you think? Is it really true though? Are millennials just a bunch of spoiled and privileged young people?
First of all, let’s clarify what a millennial is before I dive deeper into this topic. Millennials consist of people born from 1980 to 2000 (which makes me a millennial). So yes, we are the generation that have the privilege of growing up with revolutionary technology that has defined, and still continues to define personal, popular and work culture.
But what’s with all the hate and negative assumptions?
Sure, generation-shaming isn’t something new. The very same degrading terms have been used to describe every other generation when it’s young. Old people have done this throughout history – calling those younger than them lazy, worthless, selfish and so on.
However, the millennial shaming seems to be an endless process. Perhaps the Internet is partially responsible for providing a space for anti-millennials to constantly bombard their opinions on them.
People, especially Gen X, also known as the “Baby Boomers”, love condemning millennials.
If you have looked through a magazine, or gone on social media or even news sites in the recent years, you have most likely come across an array of anti-millennial articles. And if you take a close look, almost all of these articles boil down to one notion: Millennials are entitled.
In 2013, TIME magazine published a cover story with the title “The Me Me Me Generation” and described how millennials are “lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents.”
Just a couple months ago, Simon Sinek’s video on millennials in the workplace went viral. In the video, he also talked about how millennials are – you guessed it – entitled.
I saw about 10 of my friends sharing the video on Facebook and stating that they agree with what he was saying. When I first saw the video, I was also intrigued.
He was talking about millennials as if he knew the ins and outs of how the current young generation works, and maybe he does, but at the same time, he was also making some baffling generalizations, which frankly, is a tad bit demeaning.
So why did these friends of mine share the video? Why are there so many millennials agreeing to what he was saying? Could it be that they, too, share the same viewpoints about themselves?
There is certainly nothing wrong with having your own interpretation, but one can’t, and definitely shouldn’t generalize an entire generation. An advice to those who truly want to understand millennials: Get to know us as individuals.
The video, and so many articles written about millennials, criticize on the fact that our generation grew up being told that we’re special, and that we’re also the generation to receive awards for participating, which apparently devalues the hard work of others, and is also considered redundant.
As someone who grew up receiving such awards, I can attest that the medals and certificates I have received in no way devalues the hard work of others, simply for the fact that they got the awards they deserve for the work they have put in.
Are they redundant? Certainly not. If anything, they acted as a motivation for me to do even better. I can clearly remember receiving “the most improved” certificate back in high school, and getting awarded with such things just served as a reminder that the work I put in mattered, which only made me want to be better.
Fast forward to today, society still lingers around the fact that the younger generation is lazy, self-centered and unfocused. And articles on how millennials can’t afford to buy a house because they spend too much on avocado toasts are certainly not helping.
Fret not, my fellow millennials. Just as there’s light at the end of the tunnel, there are positive remarks being made about us.
The fact of the matter is, millennials are criticized because we show the world something they’re unacquainted with: ownership.
Millennials own their lives, and this is sometimes misunderstood by others as them being entitled.
Millennials are really not that different from Gen X when it comes to work ethics. However, we may chase after different things, because of how we view success.
After all, those of us who are privileged have got pretty much everything that is needed – we are safe, vaccinated, full, and we have the Internet. So we don’t abide by the baby boomers’ idea of success.
We have witnessed and experienced major social, economic and even climate changes, which have made us become more informed than ever. Our socially conscious mindset is one of our most defining traits.
Even though each country’s millennials are different, globalization and social media have made millennials worldwide become more similar to one another than to the older generations from their own nations.
We are known for being more conscious in our lives, or as the youth likes to call it, “woke”. Every day, we make careful decisions because we are aware of the impact they have on ourselves and sometimes even to the world.
Therefore, when it comes to our goals in life, millennials seek for something far deeper than just tangible things.
Millennials want to be a part of something that they find purposeful – we want to do work that matter to us personally, and also be able to make an impact to the world.
There’s no wonder as to why this generation looks up to the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and DJ Khaled, who are two very different individuals, but both of them are similar in the sense that they followed their dreams and have a career they are passionate about, and they both are highly influential public figures that inspire so many people.
Millennials also want to build deep and authentic relationships with people. Most people see us as the phone-obsessed generation that lack social skills, however, we use the available platforms to connect with people.
Social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr have allowed us to meet people that are like-minded, and we therefore make use of this to build more connections.
So one can’t assume that just because we are constantly on our phones and on social media, we’re not developing social skills. In fact, that is the very reason why most of us are on there, to meet more people, and have a stronger connection to the friends we have already made.
Millennials, in short, are just simply young people. Some are still figuring themselves out. Some already know what they want in life and are working towards their goals. And some are just happy getting by.
Being aware that every generation in their 20s were once labelled as entitled, lazy and such is imperative for a non-biased understanding of millennials.
It is 2017 now, so let’s put an end to millennial shaming, or any generation shaming for that matter. Let us progress to a more compassionate world by making less generalizations, and engaging in more meaningful conversations between generations.