My dado often says, “People were better in our times-more hardworking, more honest and more cultured. You girls are growing up in a world of beasts”. Now, our preference for phones over people, screeching rock music and perpetually moving mouths may disturb traditions. You may even dub us as SJW’s, who supposedly stand for nothing and are ruining the core Pakistani values.
However, traditions are made to be broken and Pakistani “values” that harms living beings should only last in textbooks and discussions as bad examples. Also, we’re not snowflakes, as some of you may think-with bad work ethic and excessive political correctness. In fact, with globalization and developed technologies, millennials may have made today’s world a little more tolerant, aware and secure. The supposed SJW’s maybe even wiping out the collective harm inflicted by the previous the generations.
- Acceptance
Our generation is born in to a more liberated world than before, where metanarratives are shunned and individuality is celebrated. Not only did we initiate ‘Black Lives Matter’ but also LGBTQ+. While social media may compromise the potential relations around us, it also foregrounds diverse narratives from unseen lands. Thereby, we are aware that our reality isn’t the universal standard for everyone.
- The Environment
Although millennials are less likely to recycle, they are more likely to buy from corporations that are making environmentally friendly decisions. Since scientists have been giving stern warnings about a mass extinction, this generation opines that the damage caused by climactic change is too severe for an individual to handle and must be reduced through mass projects. Moreover, there has been a recent increase in veganism and eco-friendly products, because of social media trends.
- Gender Roles
Millennials, gradually, are dissolving the hardened clay molds of gender roles. They realize that pink and blue doesn’t represent girls and boys, respectively-though, green may represent alien. More significantly, they work towards defining gender equality in a manner that benefits everyone. While millennials support boys crying and being emotionally expressive, they also support women being confident and ambitious. They recognize that gender roles are societal constructions, therefore, inherently false.
- Mental Health
While our nana’s and nani’s would associate mental illnesses with superstition, we recognize that mental health is just as significant as physical sickness. We aim to demystify psychoanalysis and normalize therapy. The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Attitudes Survey found that in 2004, 60% of people agreed that ‘people today spend too much time dwelling on their emotional difficulties’. However,in 2014, the percentage has dropped to 39%.
- Work Ethic
Contrary to popular belief, millennials are not impatient, entitled snowflakes. In fact, they partake in a world more competitive than ever. Thereby, they work with more commitment, creativity and curiosity. Having global exposure-hello, social media!- they’re aware of the wide continuum of opportunities available. Ernst & Young’s Global Generation Research surveyed and discovered that 47% of millennials in management positions have begun working more hours in the last five years, compared with only 38% of Generation X and 28% of Baby Boomers.Moreover, Bentley University found that more than half of millennials are willing to work long hours and weekends to achieve career success.
Although I’m not a millennial, I realize that compartmentalizations and generalizations can be degrading. Therefore, it’s important to not label an entire generation as the failed or the “ME” generation. Instead, let’s look at the facts and smell the coffee: Millennials might be on the best things that’s happened to earth yet.
