Legend’s VIEW
Modern dating culture: shallow, short-lived
In modern day dating culture, the search for true love is a narrative rarely told. Perhaps, not because it doesn’t exist; many young people still fall in love. More so, millennials are ashamed to admit they want to fall in love. Frankly, it is often socially embarrassing to be considered faithful or committed. However, bragging about hookups and unattached feelings and other shallow pursuits are encouraged and embraced throughout our generation, while solid relationships are often pitied.
According to the Pew Research Center, just 26 percent of the millennial generation is married. This could be caused by a myriad of different reasons, but it could be easily assumed that commitment is not our top priority. In fact, our generation seems rather keen on superficial relationships – especially in the way we begin them.
Online dating is obviously common among our generation. Meaningful relationships can be, and have been started online, but casual flings fueled by materialism and narcissism are often initiated in the virtual world as well. Popular dating apps like Tinder combine the convenience of the internet with the instant gratification we have grown accustomed to during our coming-of-age via social media. With a simple swipe right we get ‘matched’ to a person based solely on their appearance, and a swipe left rejects them based on the same criteria. Superficial? Maybe.
The greater question is how we can begin to value sustainable relationships over the shallow sexual experiences that are currently glamorized in our culture. Ironically disconnecting online might be the most obvious solution to fostering deeper human connections, face-to-face. Millennials are still figuring it out. A lot of us are children of divorce and distrust the thought of marriage, but dating can be fun while still being meaningful. We just have to admit it.
