Are you offended yet?

You’re sooo millennial! - Does that trigger you?

It gives me a slight nervous twitch as if I’m about to be offended. Maybe that’s cause I couldn’t bear to be put in the same category as a Unicorn Frappuccino.

Maybe it's because someone might as well just call me a naive self absorbed brat.

There it is again. I just stereotyped a millennial. Me a millennial, just stereotyped myself.

Our brains are hardwired to make snap decisions on other people. We are inherently judgemental. You can practically hear people’s eye role when someone proclaims they are vegan. The presumption that you’re just trying to ‘jump on the band wagon and that veganism is just a ‘trend’. Come off it - maybe they’re just giving a shit about the environment… you should probably try it sometime.

I challenge you to not stereotype someone when you meet them. Even my sweet little old granny is at it. If you were to have a piercing on your face, which is pretty normal these days, she would automatically assume that your antics, within the more private side of your life, were somewhat um… slutty? A massive generalisation, totally unfair!

Apparently there is a thing called a ‘Stereotype Threat’. It’s where you effectively hide behind your stereotype, using it as an excuse. If someone tells you, you are part of a group of people that act in a certain way, lazy and entitled in our case, you become lazy and entitled. If everyone already thinks you are, then why the fuck not?

Take Liam Gallagher for example. He probably wasn’t born a tosser, snorting lines. The press wanted him to be an out of control rock legend, so he became one. Had the press told him he was the squeaky clean boy next door, he probably would have done things differently. He probably wouldn’t have commented on his son’s 16th birthday saying that ‘He wants some complicated BMX bike thing. What's wrong with a stripper?’. But then again what do I know? I’m just a soft old millennial that’s too offended by things.

Check out the full article in the very first issue of "The Quote". Available from the 22nd of January 2019.

#article #publishing #thequote #millennial