Mythical Millennial #18: Taste the rainbow, baby
We joke about our ‘experimental phases’ at university or college. Some of us laugh off our #MCM (Man Crush Mondays on Instagram) or #WCW (Women Crush Wednesdays) Others embrace them with aplomb. Ready or not, the truth has come bursting out of the proverbial closet: the future is here and it is queer.
UK non-profit Ditch The Label’s Valentine survey polled 1,000 people between the ages of 13–26 in the U.S. and UK, and found that 57% of their respondents would not identify themselves as ‘straight’. What’s even more fascinating? Young people’s rejection of sexual labels altogether. 34% of respondents stated they do not conform to the labels of ‘straight’, ‘bisexual’, ‘lesbian’ or ‘gay’.
Ditch the Label’s hypothesis, as they stress in their white paper’s introduction, is that with each generation, people will see their sexuality as less fixed and more fluid. Who can blame them?Attempts at measuring fluidity with methods such as the Kinsey scale have been met with criticism for their lack of accuracy and its tendency towards bisexuality and asexuality erasure. I mean, let us live for crying out loud.
One of the most pervasive critiques of the millennial generation is our rebellion against labels. (I mean, what if I don’t want to call my Tinder fling my boyfriend?) However, the one thing I’m taking away from this is that young people are moving forward with more of an open mind, and an open heart. We’ve tasted the rainbow, baby. And we like it.
This is Mark Hepburn and his partner Laura. Mark and Laura were featured in a BBC piece earlier this month. Mark and Laura have apparently proved to the world that you, young millennial, you too can own a home by the age of 25. All you need to do is tighten your belt and find a miraculous Help-To-Buy scheme. There are just a few conditions.
1) You have to be in a relationship. Combined income is basically the only way most UK millennials can afford the median income for a first-time buyer (which is £43,000 — £16,000 more than most households in England.)
2) You need a lil’ help from your friends and family. Nearly a third of first time home buyers received financial help.
3) Don’t live in London. Just don’t. If you earn the median income of £43,000, you can just about afford a home in Merton, Richmond Upon-Thames or Hackney. Just.
Sigh. Guess you’ll have to give up all of those Pret coffees you’ve been necking if you want to get that one bedroom in London Fields.
Tune in, tune out.
Villainy by Local Natives
My friends. I bring you two of my favourite scandalous startup stories from recent news:
‘Inside the crash of Fling, the London startup whose founder partied in Ibiza while his company burned through $21 million’(Business Insider) Guys, this whole thing is WILD. My favourite part is when Fling’s founder Marco Nardone decides to chuck a Pret baguette at his dad during a particularly difficult blow-up.
‘Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber’ (Susan Fowler) This blog post by former Uber engineer Susan Fowler reveals some truly shocking allegations about sexual harassment and discrimination at the ride-sharing company. It’s a doozy.
B x
Like this letter?
Subscribe to Mythical Millennial and get it directly in your inbox every other Wednesday.
Follow Brenda on Twitter @brendaisarebel
Originally published on Mythical Millennial.
