Generational names and classifications have always fascinated me. I guess they continue to fascinate others since every few months or so, the names or actions of a generation sparks a new crop of articles. Millennial bashing, and now Gen Z bashing, has become a monthly, sometimes even weekly occurrence. And then the requisite, Boomer bashing in retaliation for the previous Millennial bashing. I get SO tired of millennial bashing. Not just because I get tired of "think pieces" ragging on an entire generation of people because often, it's misguided and seeks to lay blame on people rather than the systems that affected the people.
And who can forget the interesting and dismissive (perhaps intentionally so) chart from CBS News that completely omitted Gen X. The ensuing tweets and memes were hilarious and spot on. Lots of people claimed that it's highly likely that a Gen Xer created the chart (because of course they did) and purposely omitted Gen X because that's such a Gen X thing to do. Probably.
Quite honestly, perhaps all the bashing, dismissiveness, derision, angst, animosity, etc. is just another version of the age old distract, conquer, and divide. Even the chyron in the image is asking something about the Millennials? Not quite a bash, but kinda is. Asking are they burned out while whispering that previous gens also dealt with national/international crises--with the unstated point being that those gens didn't burnout. Oh, but they did. Our collective amnesia likes to look to olden times fondly and ignore the ugly.
In the end, the generational classifications and theories point out the differences for the sake of pointing them out--more so than for the sake of trying to bridge differences and learn from them.
I'm definitely not pulling a Rodney King moment here, asking, "can't we all just get along." But I am reminding us to not be distracted by the bullshit. Yes, there are differences between the generations. The fires that test/tested each generation's mettle is vastly different, and thereby will produce vastly different groups of people with different views, experiences, passions, focuses, etc. Respect the differences; don't get distracted by them.
In digging around for more info on the generations, I happened upon "Generational Names in the United States" from ThoughtCo.com. The article offers a bit of background on some of the gen names and even three different sets of those names: 1) from Generations study by Neil Howe and William Strauss; 2) from Population Reference Bureau; 3) from The Center for Generational Kinetics. What's fascinating from all three sets is that the Baby Boomers name and time period (1946-1964) never changed. Meanwhile, the other gens' names and time periods changed--some rather significantly. It's almost as if when generational names and theories first began, people established the Baby Boomers gen, and then all other gens grew outward from there.
Look at some of these names. The Thirteeners as opposed to the Gen Xers. Wow. Never heard that one, and I'm a lover of history. The name apparently comes from Gen Xers being the 13th generation born after the American Revolution. I'd imagine Gen Xers that I know will reject that name too. Hmmm.
The Lucky Few--1929 to 1945. Well that's one way to describe the people born in that era. Lucky few who survived? Lucky because they made it despite all those around them not? Lucky to have experienced the Dust Bowl, Great Depression, some of Prohibition, and WWII? Lucky because they were mostly too young to remember? Hmmm.
The New Silent Generation and New Boomers are also fascinating names. Why those names? Folks born in these time periods have proven to be anything but silent. Folks are protesting more and more (still not enough for me compared to all that's wrong) because they are fed up. And if "boomers" is a term relating to the boom in population (as it does in the Baby Boomer era), then that term does not apply to the current generation. Birth rates are going down. Folks are waiting longer to get married and have kids because they see clearly how fucked the world is currently and likely will continue to be if we don't make a lot of significant changes fast. Changes to income disparity, climate change, improved access to health coverage, supporting working mothers, improving access to and better education, etc. Are we now repeating names because we've hit the end of the alphabet and need to start over? Hmmm...
I suppose one of the reasons all of this fascinates me so is that I'm an in-betweener. Too young to be firmly a Gen X; too old to be firmly a Millennial/Gen Y. We're the micro-generation that some have called Xennials, which is a perfect description from my view. Xennials are right on the edge of both Gen X and Millennials. Cynical like Gen X; giddy like millennials. Question the need for participation trophies; probably received participation trophies. Laugh at the thought of helicopter parents; maybe became helicopter parents. We're a perfect swirl--like chocolate AND caramel poured over decadent, expensive ass Jeni's Ndali Estate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. (Jeni's is kinda peak Xennial!)
But the biggest identifiers that I connect with this term relates to tech: our youth was filled with going outside to play for most of the day, teen-years were filled with the screeching sounds of dial-up modems, adult years filled with the growing and ever-expanding world of the Google overlords, broadband/fiber optics and mini computers in our pockets. Ours is a tech transitional generation. It took decades, and thereby, more than one generation for other forms of media tech to reach the mass pop. It only took our lifetime--a single gen for tech advances to reach mass pop. This doesn't make us any more unique than the growth of society felt by other gens, but it is something to consider.
This tweet made the rounds on the interwebs and it also perfectly describes our micro-gen.
Quite honestly, perhaps all the bashing, dismissiveness, derision, angst, animosity, etc. is just another version of the age old distract, conquer, and divide. Even the chyron in the image is asking something about the Millennials? Not quite a bash, but kinda is. Asking are they burned out while whispering that previous gens also dealt with national/international crises--with the unstated point being that those gens didn't burnout. Oh, but they did. Our collective amnesia likes to look to olden times fondly and ignore the ugly.
In the end, the generational classifications and theories point out the differences for the sake of pointing them out--more so than for the sake of trying to bridge differences and learn from them.
I'm definitely not pulling a Rodney King moment here, asking, "can't we all just get along." But I am reminding us to not be distracted by the bullshit. Yes, there are differences between the generations. The fires that test/tested each generation's mettle is vastly different, and thereby will produce vastly different groups of people with different views, experiences, passions, focuses, etc. Respect the differences; don't get distracted by them.
In digging around for more info on the generations, I happened upon "Generational Names in the United States" from ThoughtCo.com. The article offers a bit of background on some of the gen names and even three different sets of those names: 1) from Generations study by Neil Howe and William Strauss; 2) from Population Reference Bureau; 3) from The Center for Generational Kinetics. What's fascinating from all three sets is that the Baby Boomers name and time period (1946-1964) never changed. Meanwhile, the other gens' names and time periods changed--some rather significantly. It's almost as if when generational names and theories first began, people established the Baby Boomers gen, and then all other gens grew outward from there.
Look at some of these names. The Thirteeners as opposed to the Gen Xers. Wow. Never heard that one, and I'm a lover of history. The name apparently comes from Gen Xers being the 13th generation born after the American Revolution. I'd imagine Gen Xers that I know will reject that name too. Hmmm.
The Lucky Few--1929 to 1945. Well that's one way to describe the people born in that era. Lucky few who survived? Lucky because they made it despite all those around them not? Lucky to have experienced the Dust Bowl, Great Depression, some of Prohibition, and WWII? Lucky because they were mostly too young to remember? Hmmm.
The New Silent Generation and New Boomers are also fascinating names. Why those names? Folks born in these time periods have proven to be anything but silent. Folks are protesting more and more (still not enough for me compared to all that's wrong) because they are fed up. And if "boomers" is a term relating to the boom in population (as it does in the Baby Boomer era), then that term does not apply to the current generation. Birth rates are going down. Folks are waiting longer to get married and have kids because they see clearly how fucked the world is currently and likely will continue to be if we don't make a lot of significant changes fast. Changes to income disparity, climate change, improved access to health coverage, supporting working mothers, improving access to and better education, etc. Are we now repeating names because we've hit the end of the alphabet and need to start over? Hmmm...
I suppose one of the reasons all of this fascinates me so is that I'm an in-betweener. Too young to be firmly a Gen X; too old to be firmly a Millennial/Gen Y. We're the micro-generation that some have called Xennials, which is a perfect description from my view. Xennials are right on the edge of both Gen X and Millennials. Cynical like Gen X; giddy like millennials. Question the need for participation trophies; probably received participation trophies. Laugh at the thought of helicopter parents; maybe became helicopter parents. We're a perfect swirl--like chocolate AND caramel poured over decadent, expensive ass Jeni's Ndali Estate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. (Jeni's is kinda peak Xennial!)
But the biggest identifiers that I connect with this term relates to tech: our youth was filled with going outside to play for most of the day, teen-years were filled with the screeching sounds of dial-up modems, adult years filled with the growing and ever-expanding world of the Google overlords, broadband/fiber optics and mini computers in our pockets. Ours is a tech transitional generation. It took decades, and thereby, more than one generation for other forms of media tech to reach the mass pop. It only took our lifetime--a single gen for tech advances to reach mass pop. This doesn't make us any more unique than the growth of society felt by other gens, but it is something to consider.
This tweet made the rounds on the interwebs and it also perfectly describes our micro-gen.
Yep, the Hobbit Generation. I can respect that.
So, what does any of this matter? In some regards, nothing. It doesn't. We are all going to be who we are no matter the generation we were born into. The culture and generation we were born into--no matter what that gen is called--does shape us, how we view the world, and how we react and interact with others. What we do with those experiences is what matters--not what we're called. There are theories that each successive generation becomes more progressive, and in some ways, works to make the world a wee bit better for us all. From my view, that's a good thing. Anything that improves lives is a good thing.
In the end, be who you want with or without labels.
But most importantly...
Pay attention.
Be informed.
Take part.
Comments
Post a Comment