When it comes to the topic of romantic and sexual intimacy, social observers are often quick to throw criticisms at millennials. However, we know little about millennials’ own hopes, fears, struggles, and triumphs in their relationships from the perspectives of millennials themselves. Intimate Inequalities uses millennials’ own stories to explore how they navigate gender, race, social class, sexuality, and age identities and expectations in their relationships. Situating millennials’ lives within contemporary social and cultural conditions in the United States, Intimate Inequalities takes an intersectional approach to examining how millennials challenge—or rather, uphold—social inequalities in their lives as they come into their own as full adults. Intimate Inequalities provides an in-depth look into the intimate lives of one group of millennials living in the United States, demystifying what actually goes on behind closed doors, and arguing that millennials’ private lives can reveal much about their ability to navigate inequalities in their lives more broadly.
Preface: You Are Who You Date?
1 Introduction: Millennials, Intimacy, and Negotiating Inequalities Today
2 He Said, She Said: Making Sense of Gender through Stories
3 Age Is Nothing but a Number? The Importance of Age in Intimacy
4 The Color of Intimacy: Seeing and Not Seeing Race
5 No Compromise on Class: Expectations and Limitations
6 Millennial Marriage: Not a One-Size-Fits-All
7 Relationship Goals: Millennials, Inequalities, and Intimacy Futures
Appendix A: Participant Demographics
Appendix B: Methods
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index
