Indian millennials are known to be well educated than the people from their earlier generation. They want to settle their careers first as it’s their main priority, explore the world and meet new people. But there’s no thought of marriage or settling with someone in a legal manner. It can be easily concluded that they’re scared for commitment or are a bunch of stubborn people who are looking for a perfect life partner sans any compromises.
A lot has been said and discussed among the community of 90’s millennials where they have developed a stigma or a stereotype towards marriage. Amidst the hustle bustle of wanting for a perfect life and a job, they’ve craved for physical and emotional intimacy which doesn’t revolve around the solution of marriage. They look for it in a relationship which they don’t want to name or maybe it falls tangent to the terms like ‘flings’, ‘friends with benefits’ and ‘live-in’ in their dictionary.
Traveling back to the time of late 18th century, marriages were a union based on an economic arrangement but now they’ve transformed completely onto the foundations of love and millennials don’t seem to find the love of their life easily. There are several reasons for their denial-
• They’re yet to find the soul mate
All is said well when it comes to finding your true love. Marriage is a union of souls who are true to each other but in the current scenario, credibility plays a vital role to find ‘the one’. A 29-year-old, techie, says, “I’m actually loving my single life! I’ve had a fair share of relationships in my life where I found men not actually liking my straightforwardness. Once my parents forcefully sent me to see a guy for marriage. To my horror, he was literally a male chauvinistic pig who wanted me to stop working after marriage! I knew it at that moment, I’m never settling for such men ever in my life. I want my man to understand me and there’s a mutual understanding of both the parties.”
Thousands of young men and women are struggling to find the match without any compromises.
• Being single is not always about being lonely
A lot many singles are happily embracing their singledom but at times they also opine that a life of solo living does make them feel desire for a partner. But on the other hand, they also believe, they’ve got a fine posse of people like friends and family standing by their side. A 33-year-old media professional, says, “I do feel lonely at times and get saddened that I don’t tend to find the right person, but then I remember I’ve got a loving family. Marriage is not just a hush-hush affair of speedy settlement for propagating family, it’s about finding satisfaction and content in life with your spouse.”
• Casual dating and flings
It’s a lot convenient for millennials to find physical satisfaction than emotional. They have no time for devoting themselves to find the love, instead, are running towards finding sexual content. Also, due to the growing culture of dating apps, it is automatically prevalent in the mindsets that they’re bound to find people of same demand which leaves the intention for serious relationships aside. A 24-year-old English majors student says, “I never understood the idea of marriage. I always thought of it as a burden to your personal life. There’s no self-expression of the two souls. Maybe I’m saying this because I’m too young or maybe I actually don’t understand marriages! I find peace in people who come and go in my life because there’s no further attachment. It’s like no strings attached!”
• Staying away from the commitment
Living together is preferred and is easier over marriage because you have the ease of walking off. Many people think that the qualities for finding a perfect life partner have degraded. Gone are the days where people were ready to build trust and support each other. A 24-year-old advertising professional says, “It’s fun staying with your boyfriend because it’s just a relationship, where there are no social obligations. We do all the things together just like a married couple would do. So why to get married?”
A study conducted by a renowned university said that only 16% of age group 18-29 are interested to get hitched whereas 64% of people wish to stay single. Today, young people have vested themselves in their own self-actualisation. They are rapidly transforming themselves where the conventional structures of the past are being exposed as institutions with rotten foundations.
Also, marriages for them are not a capitalistic endeavour because many of them don’t have enough savings or assets to merge with someone else. Millennials do not consider marriage the end goal or the only path to a life of well living.
