If it isn’t Boomers being blamed for ruining something, then it’s probably Millennials. It’s gotten so common that a lot of Millennials have given up on trying to change their minds and just give it the “whatever” treatment.
Others, though, take the approach of pointing out the good things Millennials have started or gotten right. The next time you hear someone dumping on Millennials, bring some of these into the conversation:
Visiting Friends in Hospitals
For the longest time, it was mostly family members who would visit people in hospitals. When friends did visit, they were typically females. Millennials were the first generation where visits by friends both male and female became widespread.
Diverse Friend Groups
Generations before Millennials mostly grew up in neighborhoods and attended schools where most people looked and lived just as they did. Millennials experienced a lot more diversity while growing up, and you see this reflected in friend groups and relationships.
“Buying Groups”
Friends have always given birthday presents to each other. Millennials popularized “buying groups” where a group of friends chipped in to buy a single, more expensive gift for someone. This made choosing a gift easier, and the recipient was more likely to get something of real value.
Keeping Lego Going
Legos have long been popular among kids. Millennials, though, at least a lot of them, never outgrew Legos and have kept buying sets as adults.
More-Involved Fathers
America has long had a stereotype of fathers being the strong, silent type and not being that emotionally involved with their children or very involved in their activities (obvious exception with all the dads who have coached kids’ sports). Millennial fathers have tended to break this mold by being more engaged in their children’s lives.
Setting Boundaries
Millennials often get criticism for being overly sensitive or disengaged. In a lot of cases, though, what they’re doing is drawing lines on what they will and won’t do and tolerate.
Ending Unpaid Internships
Unpaid internships have always been sold as providing valuable experience instead of financial compensation. All too often, that was code for unpaid labor. Millennials have pushed back on this, and they’ve seen results in both culture and the law.
Breaking the Stigma of Seeking Mental Health Support
America has long had a stigma about mental health issues and seeking help for them. There was a risk of being seen as crazy or weak. Untreated mental health issues often lead to depression and suicide, and Millennials have been far more likely to seek treatment related to mental health and not feel ashamed about it.
Normalizing Same-Sex Relationships
Something else that was stigmatized for a very long time was having a romantic preference for people of the same sex. Majorities saw it as one or more of the following: sinful, deviant, a mental illness, or something to be fixed. While disapproval and intolerance still exist, attitudes underwent a rapid change as Millennials became teens, adults, and voters.
Tackling Toxic Office Culture
Many people have worked in toxic workplaces and under toxic bosses, and people saw that as just the natural order of things. Millennials decided they were sick of feeling miserable at work, and they’ve been instrumental in bringing positive change to a lot of workplaces.
The Remote Work Revolution
Millennials are also big drivers of the shift to remote and hybrid work. COVID was what made these models take off, but since then, Millennials have been the biggest outfits for keeping them. Most of the resistance has come from Boomers and Generation X.
Deeply Valuing Relationships With Partners
Let’s be honest– Millennials didn’t invent marrying for love and staying in love. Older generations, though, were more accepting of the idea of settling for someone and staying in unhappy relationships to preserve the status quo. Millennials have shown more propensity to really wait for the right person and then to keep committed to a happy partnership.
Stay-At-Home Dads
This might be an offshoot of more involved fathers, but it’s significant on its own. It used to be almost unheard of for a father to stay home with the kids while the mother worked. Many Millennial dads have embraced this role and found that they love it.
Respecting Children’s Feelings
“Because I say so” used to be the ultimate law parents laid on their kids. Millennials have given more voice to their children. Critics say this is coddling them, and that is a risk, but the many parents doing it right have happier children who feel a greater sense of worth.
Letting Kids Be Themselves
We also used to shoehorn our children into particular roles and expectations, which made a lot of kids miserable. Millennials have done a good job of letting kids be who the are while maintaining minimum standards of safety and hygiene.
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Here are 20 home areas that could use extra attention during spring cleaning.
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Do you feel sometimes like all you ever do is clean up and put away clutter?
No matter how big your space is, it seems like all of our “stuff” just takes over, making it harder and harder to have a clean and tidy space.
The secret to a clean, orderly space is very simple: have fewer things around that take up space and force you to care for them.
Here are 12 things you definitely can get rid of and won’t miss! (Or things you can avoid buying so you save money, too!)
12 Household Items You Can Throw Out Today (You Really Don’t Need Them)
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Here, we share 15 instances where once-dismissed conspiracies were validated, uncovering unsettling truths that challenge our perception of history, governance, and societal institutions.
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It’s something commonplace that we all get used to. However, maybe some of these things should never have become normal in the first place.
15 Things That Have Been Normalized That Shouldn’t Be Normal
12 Things That Were Socially Acceptable 25 Years Ago, but Are Frowned Upon Today
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12 Things That Were Socially Acceptable 25 Years Ago, but Are Frowned Upon Today