There’s a general consensus among young people that the turn of the millennium was a better time. But was it all that good?
While it’s easy to look back on things with rose-tinted glasses, the late Nineties through to the late Noughties were far from perfect. Reddit user Energia91 wanted to hear what wasn’t so good about that era, and asked members of r/AskUK to share what they don’t miss:
‘The late 90s to late 2000s are widely (at least in my circles) regarded as a good era with a strong economy, improving living standards, improving educational attainment, and a general feeling of optimism for a better future in the new millennium. Then the financial crisis happened in 2008. And it was a downhill path for most people.
I was only a child/teenager during that period, so I may have just lived through it with rose-tinted glasses.
But what were the not-so-good things during that period? Did people complain as much about their wages back then as they do now?Genuinely interested, as I tend to hold some nostalgia for that period. Even though, on a personal level, things were far worse for me back then.’
Here are the top replies…
1.
‘Growing up as a ‘figuring out I’m Bi’ teenager, the late 2000s/early 2010s in secondary school was not a fun time.’
-That_Northern_bloke
2.
‘The very narrow messaging from society about how a woman should be in terms of appearance – most importantly they should be thin. The appalling treatment of Britney. The circling of celeb ‘cellulite’ in heat magazine. I could go on. I’m 37 now and I look back and am horrified at the messages we sent to teen and young women in that era.
Oh; I also don’t miss the landfill indie music of the era. I thought it was rubbish then and I still think it’s rubbish now. ‘
-Thomasinarina
3.
‘Life before the smoking ban was pretty grim.
I remember being in pubs and social clubs as a kid where you could barely see the other side of the room for smoke.’
-ShotInTheBrum
4.
‘Unless you lived in a bigger city, before the Internet was accessible, you had very little choice or variety of culture compared to now. I grew up in a small town that had a tiny bookshop and a tiny record store. If I wanted to read or buy certain things (including some fairly mainstream records) I had to make a day trip to the city!’
-BobBobBobBobBobDave
5.
‘I don’t miss binge drinking as something to aspire to.
50p a shot £1 a pint. Sounds like a good time but I know a lot of people with alcohol problems now as adults. A lot of girls with broken bones from falling drunk, getting stomachs pumped.
I’m glad the younger gen don’t seem to be as heavily into drink as we were.’
-Girl-From-Mars
6.
‘A lot of casual sexism was still very acceptable, especially directed at teenage girls. Also a lot of slut-shaming, especially in connection to celebrity culture.’
-Ralucahippie
7.
‘Do not miss the aspiration to be a binge drinker or the excessive lad culture. The lad culture still exists but is rightfully shamed a lot more. In the late 2000s every young man was aspiring to be cook from skins.
Also skin tight chinos and a Rihanna top. What the fuck was that all about? ‘
-Commercial_Nature_28
8.
‘I don’t miss the fuckin state of Lager (& Guinness) in England in the 90’s.
Absolutely shite.
It’s a great era now for all beers’
-joeblrock
9.
‘It was not acceptable to be into anything nerdy. Acceptable video games were CoD, FIFA, GTA and maybe Halo; anything else was the sign of a loser. God forbid you spend hours after school playing them too. No way a show like Game Of Thrones would have been cool to like either, anything fantasy or sci-fi was for nerds. Superhero movies were OK to like but knowing anything about the character’s back story or anything about them that was not in the movie was uncool.
Nowadays, people make money playing video games all day and everyone and their mum has seen a Marvel movie. Even anime is a lot more mainstream than when I was a teenager and you had to hope someone uploaded it onto YouTube (and you had to watch it before it was taken down).’
-pajamakitten
