Intimate Inequalities: Millennials' Romantic Relationships in Contemporary Times

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.  

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
CRISTEN DALESSANDRO is a sociologist and postdoctoral fellow in Family Planning at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

Review :
"Dalessandro gives us a rich glimpse into the stories Millennials tell about themselves, their intimate partners and the world as they navigate an emerging adulthood of economic precarity and social stagnation. This powerful generational portrait will surprise and move you."— Jennifer Lundquist, author of The Dating Divide: Race and Desire in the Era of Online Romance "Intimate Inequalities provides a fascinating view into the romantic and sexual lives of sixty Millennials. Dalessandro centers gender, age, race, and social class in turn, showing how each dimension is crosscut by others. This intersectional approach generates novel insights into the inequalities that pattern Millennial sex lives. This book will be appreciated by scholars and students of gender, family, sexuality, and the transition to adulthood."— Elizabeth Armstrong, author of Forging Gay Identities: Organizing Sexuality in San Francisco, 1950-1994 "Intimate Inequalities provides a fascinating view into the romantic and sexual lives of sixty Millennials. Dalessandro centers gender, age, race, and social class in turn, showing how each dimension is crosscut by others. This intersectional approach generates novel insights into the inequalities that pattern Millennial sex lives. This book will be appreciated by scholars and students of gender, family, sexuality, and the transition to adulthood."— Elizabeth Armstrong, author of Forging Gay Identities: Organizing Sexuality in San Francisco, 1950-1994 "Dalessandro gives us a rich glimpse into the stories Millennials tell about themselves, their intimate partners and the world as they navigate an emerging adulthood of economic precarity and social stagnation. This powerful generational portrait will surprise and move you."— Jennifer Lundquist, author of The Dating Divide: Race and Desire in the Era of Online Romance