PASSING THE VIBE CHECK

From deal breakers to not being 'delulu', how different is Gen Z's dating approach, and what millennials can learn from them

- SAMREEN TUNGEKAR

Growing up on a diet of ‘will they won’t they’ and ‘true love is hard so you put up with all its toxic shit’ storylines in pop culture, it’s no wonder that as a generation, millennials are perennially struggling with creating healthy boundaries irrespective of the relationship dynamic. We were in situationships before the term existed, hoping that being ‘the cool girl’ would eventually get us what we wanted – and boy, were we wrong.

While millennials slowly watch and learn the importance of intent, deal breakers, and boundaries in the dating world, it’s Gen Z – the generation born on the internet – that’s leading this change. No more putting up with Chads, going with the flow when you don’t want to, being okay with the ‘apolitical’, or accepting breadcrumbs. No cap.

BOY, BYE 

For social media strategist Mohita, 23, a person with a completely opposite personality is a deal breaker. “Something like food will not be a deal breaker for me; I’m a vegetarian so as long as my date doesn’t expect me to eat what they eat, I’m good. Lack of compatible personality is the biggest deal breaker,” she says.