APR 30, 2026
How Gen Z is dealing with relationships
John Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette as they leave First African Baptist Church after their Sept. 21, 1996 wedding ceremony on Cumberland Island, Ga. / Denis Reggie.
Finding a partner has never been that simple.
But lately, it feels almost impossible to even think about being with someone.
Dating apps are one of the main factors that have changed the trajectory of traditional “love,” creating a system where we choose potential partners the same way we choose a product: simple, effective, and often meaningless.
Today, we don’t date with marriage in mind. Instead, we date while looking for something else. Casual dating and sex-based relationships have become increasingly common. It’s as if we’re afraid of intimacy, yet still crave it — even if that desire is unconscious.
Sex in The City (1998 – 2004)
But what are we so afraid of?
Our generation is trying to escape the inescapable: love.
Somehow, we are so afraid of committing that we end up satisfying our needs through casual connections, convincing ourselves that what we feel is purely physical.
At some point, something shifted. Serious relationships started to feel out of reach — not because they don’t exist, but because people are so afraid of commitment that they create excuses to avoid being with someone they actually like.
Gen Z often feels like a society of Chandler Bing in the early seasons — terrified of serious relationships, yet desperate for love.
Friends (1994 – 2004)
On the other hand, we also see the opposite extreme.
Young people getting married to the first person they meet. While some are afraid of relationships, others rush into them, without questioning whether it might be too soon.
Two extremes: some who want nothing to do with love, and others who want everything all at once, without taking the time to truly experience life.
To some extent, we carry the fears of previous generations. Our parents’ generation, for example, often delayed marriage and built families later in life. Maybe we’re afraid of ending up like them — divorced — and choose to avoid love altogether. Meanwhile, others try the opposite approach: forcing the idea of a “perfect” relationship early on.
In the end, both perspectives are flawed.
The O.C (2003 – 2007)
So, is there a right way to fall in love?
I hate to break it to you, but we don’t have control over love — or over the people we choose. We can try to plan it, to predict it, but there’s no formula.
Maybe the best thing we can do is to experience it.
Go on dates. Make mistakes. Change your mind. It doesn’t matter if you meet twenty people and none of them feel right — there is value in the process itself.
Don’t rush into something serious, but don’t hide in something meaningless either.
Just live it.
Be single for as long as you need, and don’t be ashamed of it.
It’s better to be alone than to settle for something that isn’t right, that’s my final statement.
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