Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation

[version sound]

So, I imagine that a lot of us are Generation X, with some folks falling on either side. Any boomers? Looking at these dates, I realize that a lot of (all?) the first generation punks were actually boomers, which is probably true for a lot of the first generation of hardcore “kids,” too. What generation are you from, and how do you feel about it? I’m solidly Generation X. I’m cool with it, though I was never a fan of irony in the way that a lot of Xers were (or were accused of being). Having grown up with punk/hardcore (DC hardcore in particular), I have always tended more towards sincerity. I don’t think I’ve ever liked anything ironically in my life.

Here’s a rough breakdown:

Baby Boomer Generation 1946-1964
Generation X (Baby Bust) 1965-1979
Xennials 1975-1985
Millennials, Generation Y, Gen Next 1980-1994

This is the first I’ve ever heard of an “Xennial.”

[version sound]

“Xennial” seems pretty bogus. I was born several years before those dates, but most of the descriptions fit me pretty well. I even took a quiz and got:

Xennial
You are a true xennial. Well done. You understand modern technology but are not so emotionally needy as to need constant validation from strangers you will never meet.

I guess I’m just young at heart.

[Markonomicon]

I've seen Gen Z referred to as "Zennials".

[JGJR]

“Xennial” seems pretty bogus. I was born several years before those dates, but most of the descriptions fit me pretty well. I even took a quiz and got:

Xennial
You are a true xennial. Well done. You understand modern technology but are not so emotionally needy as to need constant validation from strangers you will never meet.

I guess I’m just young at heart.

It me. I was born in 1975 and while I've always considered myself to be Gen X, I could see the "Xennial" being applied to me as well since I'm a bit on the younger side of Gen X and like Gen X (and John Lennon) before them, I just want others to "gimme some truth" and don't care much for irony, et al. in the way some Gen X'ers were portrayed in the '90s.

[jaybird]

I've always thought this sort of generational classification is pretty meaningless... My dad was born in April of 1945, just before the end of WWII, so technically a member of "The Silent Generation", but he still had all the supposedly typical "boomer" cultural experiences... in the first cohort to grow up with TV as a child, rock and roll, married young, was able to get a solid union job just out of high school, got drafted during Vietnam, etc. There's millions upon millions of people out there that don't really fit into the supposed "generation" they were born into... It's mostly just marketing bullshit, IMO.

-Signed, a cynical Gen-Xer (b.1969)

[scannest]

No need to be coy, Roy - I am turning 53 this summer, so decidedly Gen X. For the most part the generalizations associated with each generation are accurate and serve a purpose - with the understanding that they are "generalizations" and all that entails.

We were having a discussion w/r/t boomers recently. I wondered if there is a tendency to grow more conservative with age. It seemed to me that I associate boomers with the whole "Peace & Love", Hippie generation. And now these people boo C,S,N & Y for opposing war and seem to be concerned with their 401K balances above all us. I had a friend who suggested that this was always the general position of the majority of boomers (the 'silent majority', so to speak) and that hippie attitudes were never the norm, they just got more play in the media.

Whadda ya think?

[patient_ot]

Marketing bullshit is about right. There is an entire industry that thrives on categorizing people by demographics that are invented out of thin air and it gets far more granular than generational categories. I know this because I've used some of these software products at work and in grad school.

[lewdd]

1969 Gen X'er here for all of the 75 days or so I spent living in the 60s

it is interesting to see these categorizations. I do see some of the attributes and assessments of these groupings in people. It does help a little when having to work or manage people that are of different age groups. It could also pigeon hole someone into a personality or belief that they are not and not giving them a fair chance to show otherwise.

This age categorization and 10 deep music genres give people a reason to have a job.

[kel]

I kind of believe in micro-generations.

I'd delineate them from one high school senior to freshman year, so they occur every three to five years.

While the cultural differences might not be terribly different from, say, 1985 to 1988, the outlook and reaction for someone on one end of that curve to the other can be huge. For example:

The mainstream senior in 1988: Preppy, loves Heineken and cocaine, wants to emulate Gordon Gekko and work on Wall Street. Listens to Boston, Huey Lewis, maybe The Police and an early U2 adopter if edgy. Full of hope and faith.

The mainstread freshman in 1988: Disenchanted with conspicuous consumption after seeing the crash of the late 80's instead of being enamored by it, leaning 'alternative'. Dad out of work in the downsizing of the middle class. Cure, Glam metal, Guns & Roses, getting edgier via 120 Minutes on MTV fan... Probably still listens to U2 though.

Then, the kids four years behind that person: Over the cliff, wasteoid reaction Gen X'er that has no faith or hope in the work world.
Then, the little brother and sisters that saw THAT guy smoke their college away doing nothing turn into little work machines that ain't gonna fall for the crap their older siblings got into. Buy suits and corp casual, and that microgeneration became doctors and lawyers.

The microgeneration concept is completely cyclical and cynical, of course.

[SamDBL]

I think the sorts of generational generalizations are as bootleg as racial ones. There may be some basis for stereotypes. But that’s not enough to base *anything* of consequence on. If anything they just seem to serve as another divider for lazy people to write other swathes of people off with. Like we need more of that right now.

[target]

I think the sorts of generational generalizations are as bootleg as racial ones. There may be some basis for stereotypes. But that’s not enough to base *anything* of consequence on. If anything they just seem to serve as another divider for lazy people to write other swathes of people off with. Like we need more of that right now.

I agree about the danger of making too many generalizations. but as long as one isn't using specific date ranges as a hard and fast rule, and isn't automatically pegging people of certain generations with particular attributes, i think that cultural references can play a big part in shaping an entire cohort as well as economic ones, ie, if you came out of college at a particular time your debt level vs. the job market/cost of living can shape your viewpoint. this, obviously, gets more complicated when differences among race, class, geography, get factored in....

[SamDBL]

I think the sorts of generational generalizations are as bootleg as racial ones. There may be some basis for stereotypes. But that’s not enough to base *anything* of consequence on. If anything they just seem to serve as another divider for lazy people to write other swathes of people off with. Like we need more of that right now.

I agree about the danger of making too many generalizations. but as long as one isn't using specific date ranges as a hard and fast rule, and isn't automatically pegging people of certain generations with particular attributes, i think that cultural references can play a big part in shaping an entire cohort as well as economic ones, ie, if you came out of college at a particular time your debt level vs. the job market/cost of living can shape your viewpoint. this, obviously, gets more complicated when differences among race, class, geography, get factored in....

The way I hear this stuff applied is “boomers are selfish”, “gen xers are uninvolved”, “millennials are entitled and spoiled”, etc. It typically tends to bend toward the negative and exclusionary. I don’t see it any less unhelpful than using generalized truths to categorize people by race, gender or sexuality. How is ‘you were born before 1964, therefore you are probably a stupid asshole’ any different than ‘you are black, so you are probably a criminal’?

[xxxMidgexxx]

Ok boomers.

[JGJR]

The mainstread freshman in 1988: Disenchanted with conspicuous consumption after seeing the crash of the late 80's instead of being enamored by it, leaning 'alternative'. Cure, Glam metal, Guns & Roses, getting edgier via 120 Minutes on MTV fan... Probably still listens to U2 though.

It me (HS freshman in 1989-1990) except I leaned hard on the alternative stuff and that got me into punk, hardcore, etc.