Millennials & Dating

[Abbey Marie]

If anyone here is exposed to young folks from high school through their twenties, you will understand.

When we were young, if a boy liked a girl, he asked her out. On a date. And if things went well, often he’d ask her to “go steady”. Not a complicated process, and everyone pretty much knew where they stood.

Have you seen the current state of relationships between singles? They don’t admit to dating; they just “hang out”, because you know they are too cool to appear interested. Maybe it’s due to that lessened testosterone someone mentioned? Maybe it’s because women are so aggressive now? Maybe one has caused the other? Hmm.

No one admits to having a boyfriend/girlfriend. They discuss whether or not they have a “connection”, and the first thing they do when the connection changes is update FB.

I’m amazed when I see someone actually get engaged.

[CSM]

Social media.... that's how they do EVERYTHING.... face to face interaction ain't gonna happen. Most of the millennials I have seen are socially inept unless they are texting/tweeting

[jimnyc]

Back then we had like "57" flavors or whatever the number was, and the boys and girls were outside being normal. Today, we have like 57 states & 57 different types of genders. It must be hard to date when you have so little time to figure out such a massive scale of genders!

[Noir]

As a “millennial” I don’t recognise that description at all, pretty much all of my social circle either friends or family discuss dating, and their boyfriends/girlfriends etc. and I’m at an age we’re many of my friends/family are now getting engaged/married.

Maybe it’s a cultural difference, but I think so as many of our social expressions in the U.K. are Americanised, so I doubt that. Or maybe my social circles a bunch of weirds.

[Abbey Marie]

Social media.... that's how they do EVERYTHING.... face to face interaction ain't gonna happen. Most of the millennials I have seen are socially inept unless they are texting/tweeting

Boy, ain’t that the truth. And they are afraid to even call each other. It would apparently show too much interest.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Boy, ain’t that the truth. And they are afraid to even call each other. It would apparently show too much interest.

Being indoctrinated into a culture of no commitment supports the way they are acting. We see schools, society, media and Hollywood all supporting this
abhorrent behavior and vilifying the societal standards of their parents/grandparents.
Such is destruction being promoted by certain entities, main ones being our own government ,public education and media, IMHO.-Tyr

[Trigg]

It depends on where you are, millennials aren't a monolithic group. My 20 year old is dating a very nice girl, I'm not sure how much phone time they actually get and I'm sure they text more than anything. But, they do date and see movies as well as hang out here at the house. My 25 yea old is married--and celebrated his one year on Sunday.

I've seen lazy 20 somethings and hardworking 20 somethings, it's all down to which degrees or career fields they've gone into.

[Trigg]

As a “millennial” I don’t recognise that description at all, pretty much all of my social circle either friends or family discuss dating, and their boyfriends/girlfriends etc. and I’m at an age we’re many of my friends/family are now getting engaged/married.

Maybe it’s a cultural difference, but I think so as many of our social expressions in the U.K. are Americanised, so I doubt that. Or maybe my social circles a bunch of weirds.

My 25 year old goes to weddings all the time, many of his friends are also starting to have kids.

[Kathianne]

Mores change. My mom never understood, 'going steady.' Coming of age in the late 30's and 40's, she dated a lot. Some for awhile, some just a few times or once. No promises given or expected. Until one met 'the one' that was worth going out for a long while and got engaged, you dated. Of course sex wasn't happening on the third date or sooner, so I guess that is one difference.

My kids dated when two dates made a 'in a relationship.' Dating someone else, without 'breaking up' would be cheating. How in the hell do you cheat on someone after a week or two?

They are all married now, seemingly happily.

Sometimes I just feel so 'out of it,' that I'm not down on the generations that follow. Maybe I don't want to sound like those that used to complain about the music of our times-sex, drugs, and rock n' roll.

[aboutime]

Cell towers stop operating. Batteries run down. The Electric Grid goes DARK.

Millenials depend on ELECTRONIC devices too much. They no longer SPEAK actual words, and they rarely....if ever, look into someone else's eyes. Computer dating is really safe. NEVER CONSUMATED as long as the batteries are at full power.

[Abbey Marie]

Being indoctrinated into a culture of no commitment supports the way they are acting. We see schools, society, media and Hollywood all supporting this
abhorrent behavior and vilifying the societal standards of their parents/grandparents.
Such is destruction being promoted by certain entities, main ones being our own government ,public education and media, IMHO.-Tyr

Great point, Tyr. It is inherent in the culture at this point. I was watching a show where a guy in his 20s admitted he was a virgin. The girl on the date with him actually left the room to try to absorb this horrifying information.

And how often do we see folks doing things in this order:
Have child
Buy house
Get married (maybe, maybe not).

As for every generation “looking down on” the next, there is a fairly big difference between unlikable differences in music and clothing, vs a wholesale failure to being able to admit to dating, or to make a commitment to someone. I love my daughter’s friends; in fact, they just vacationed with us old folks. I’m talking about a fundamental cultural shift, not old biddies looking down on “those crazy kids”.

And never did I say no one ever dates or marries. Of course they do. There are no absolutes in culture, and always anecdotal evidence. But if you havent noticed this “hanging out” phenomenon, I’m not sure what to say. It is pretty huge.