For my research paper, I delve into the concepts of generations and how the dividing of age groups by name brings condemnatory views against the groups due to name alone. The labeling of millennials being lazy and narcissistic is commonly imposed by even something as prestigious as Time magazine. Yet this blatant hatred for the other generation is commonplace and has been instilled for people to criticize the people who “live it easy” no matter what generation they are from. The Baby Boomers criticize Generation X, Generation X criticize Generation Y also known as the Millennials, and the Millennials will inevitably criticize the next generation (creatively named Generation Z).
Even though the animosity between generations is essentially cyclical, the fact of the matter is the idea of generations doesn’t even really exist. The Census Bureau that calculates different data of the population, such as religious concentration, of the United States does not define generations other than the Baby Boomers who were born in the years from 1946 – 1964. Instead, the media becomes the deciding factor of the derogatory attributes imposed on the generations. Magazines such as Time and Life to countless news programs are caught time and time again bashing the people below them throughout history.
Your Generational Identity is a Lie
The Essential Content of the Article: The article speaks of generations as a definition/ class that people made to label themselves. With the labels, that are made from the people rather than officially stated, the people then impose characteristics that may or may not be true to the entire demographic. It also touches on the gray areas of determining generations, with the many names each generation receives and how arbitrary the years that define the generations really are.
What it Proves: This article emphasizes how weak the definitions of generations truly are and how this system of generalizing massive amounts of people under one category really is quite detrimental
Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation
The Essential Content of the Article: A Time article that showcases the proof that the stereotypes of Millenials are indeed true. Calling the Millenials the Me generation, the author writes of how the millennials became narcissistic due to technology and the self-esteem needed for academic success. He then speaks of how millennials need to be engaged or else can’t otherwise be bothered. Speaks about the unneeded dependency that the millennials have and the pointless culture that thrives from it. The author then states some positives that coexist with the negatives, such as being more optimistic and idealists.
What it Proves: This article is an embodiment of a majority of the criticisms that generations impose on the millennials. The sense of superiority along with the dismissing of logical reasons behind observations while assuming many negative characteristics showcases the divide between generations.
The Essential Content of the Article: This article speaks criticizes the Baby Boomers from its more relaxed views on drugs to their work ethics.
What it Proves: This article instates the idea that the discrimination of the younger generation is timeless. No matter what period of time it is, the previous generation criticizes the later due to differences in culture and technology and is bound to repeat itself over and over again
Most Millennials Resist the ‘Millennial’ Label
The Essential Content of the Article: Consists of numerous studies of a sample size of 3147 people that asks numerous questions to different generations in regards to their own generation. It is found that the millennials are less likely to embrace the label Millenial compared to Baby Boomers embracing the label Baby Boomers and are more likely to attribute negative traits such as being self-absorbed and wasteful. Alternatively, older Generations such as the Baby Boomers and the silent generation see themselves in more of a positive light, attributing traits such as hard-working and moral.
What it Proves: The finding that Millenials are more ashamed of their generations while the older generations are more prideful even though they both consist of the same amount of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ people showcases how the label of generations negatively impact the younger generations. The older generations that see themselves with a rose-tinted lens easily bash on the younger generations who are being brought up thinking that it is truth.
What Is A ‘Millennial’ Anyway? Meet The Man Who Coined The Phrase
The Essential Content of the Article: Speaks about Neil Howe and William Strauss and coining the term Millenials. At first, there was no name for the generation X and was called 133ers as they were the 13th generation after Benjamin Franklin in their book that studied the different generations. Eventually, they coined the term millennial to showcase the importance of the generation that would deal with the new millennium which would be drastically different. Different sources then used the term Millenials is different books and studied and the name stuck. However, it is noted that the people are adverse to it, as the deem the label derogatory as people label millennials narcissistic. Howe dismisses the idea, asserting, “One person’s narcissism is another person’s healthy self-esteem.”
What it Proves: The article proves the manner of how the name of a generation arises; rather than many different scholars that observe the grouping of different age groups and all agree to name, it essentially becomes whatever names catches on. The person who coined the term even rejects the idea that the label is not good for the people in the generation, even though millennials themselves have shown that they do not enjoy the label millennials
Rowan Counterintuitive 