For Generation Z, social and environmental causes aren’t just reasons to protest or topics to be promoted on social media, but also matters they’re incorporating into their love lives.
According to Tinder’s 2019 Year In Swipe report, users between the ages of 18 and 24, who now make up the majority of the dating and hookup app’s users, were 66% more likely than millennials to mention issues like climate change, gun control, or social justice in their bios.
Maybe we could all take some dating pointers from the generation that some suspect will be the one to eventually kill marriage.
“Gen Z doesn’t separate their authentic self from their romantic life. We are who we are through and through,” says Nza-Ari Khepra, a 23-year-old gun- control activist living in Chicago. After losing a close friend to gun violence in her hometown, Khepra and her classmates started a gun-violence prevention organization in high school. In college she worked with Everytown For Gun Safety and was featured in Teen Vogue’s activism issue for her advocacy.
Khepra, who says her activism is ingrained in her personality, tells me she understands why her generation would find it important to note the causes they care about, even on dating-app profiles.
“I think people are always seeking someone who can appreciate who they are. And because Gen Z is very motivated and passionate about social issues, of course they want to date someone who can value their passion,” Khepra says. “We don’t want to hide a portion of ourselves to make some other person feel better, so it makes sense to be upfront and clear, and no one’s time is wasted.”
Khepra mentions that she’s in a relationship with a guy who has been essential to her activism and supports her advocacy. “I don’t think we’d be able to be together if we weren’t both equally dedicated to supporting each other’s causes. We may not be equally passionate about those causes, but we do support them.”