Re: Generational stereotypes and gripes

[The Wisp]

I just discovered the "Generation Wuss" narrative and while there's a grain of truth there, I think it is mostly bullshit.

[Guest]

I just discovered the "Generation Wuss" narrative and while there's a grain of truth there, I think it is mostly bullshit.

I'm tired of people talking so much shit about my fucking generation. I and others (at least the wiser kids) of my generation *know* that we're not perfect. Mr. Ellis brings up some fair points, parents these days are indeed helicopter parents, but you know what the irony of that is? Most of those parents are from YOUR GENERATION, YOU MORON.

Your generation is part of the fucking problem with my generation, Mr. Ellis. In addition to Generation X's coddling, our grandparents' generation is the one that effectively screwed my generation as well.

:grrr:

-sigh-

[BasedBuzzed]

Every generation is doomed, every generation is another one on the path to utopia. We could roll Socrates out and people still would forget the lesson in a few days.

[Guest]

Every generation is doomed, every generation is another one on the path to utopia. We could roll Socrates out and people still would forget the lesson in a few days.

Which is why I don't even worry future generations because every generation is just about the same. The difference is you can't fix stupid, you have to let them learn on their own.

[reboot]

Seconded. My generation (X) were the slacker, unmotivated, ambition less, identity less, underachievers who failed to carry on the aspirations of the baby boomers and make the world a better place. Now we complain about millennials (which is weird to me because I work with a lot of millennials and aside from needing more constant feedback are no different from people my age or older work wise ) as the boomers complained against us and one day millennials will complain about whatever group comes next.

Y'all should be happy about one thing, though, at least your pundit applied label is a complete word. WTF is X? Does that make us the unknown?

[nearly_takuan]

"How him and his friends deal with the world."

Sheesh. Adults these days.

[caliseivy]

Psh I stopped paying attention; I really don't give a damn which generation of "screw ups" I'm supposed to belong to.
Did he really have to use the example of the guy who committed suicide over a serious issue and frame it as him just not being able to handle "the real world"??

[eselle28]

I'm on the cusp and identify more with Generation X than with Millennials, but I don't have much patience for Millennial shaming. In addition to what others have pointed out about other generations having been in the same position, I would highlight that it somehow always seems to be the youngest group of people entering the workforce and the voting population who get this negative label and that it tends to be the generations with the greatest amount of social, economic, and cultural power who apply it. It's rhetoric that's designed to make you sit down, shut up, and stop asking for what you deserve.

(I'll admit that I didn't get further than Bret Easton Ellis's name before I clicked the article shut, but generation-shaming tends to be pretty easy to predict.)

[reboot]

I'm on the cusp and identify more with Generation X than with Millennials, but I don't have much patience for Millennial shaming. In addition to what others have pointed out about other generations having been in the same position, I would highlight that it somehow always seems to be the youngest group of people entering the workforce and the voting population who get this negative label and that it tends to be the generations with the greatest amount of social, economic, and cultural power who apply it. It's rhetoric that's designed to make you sit down, shut up, and stop asking for what you deserve.

(I'll admit that I didn't get further than Bret Easton Ellis's name before I clicked the article shut, but generation-shaming tends to be pretty easy to predict.)

Yeah, I cannot believe I actually read it after reading his name (Brett is a douche)

Now I have to admit I do partake in some boomer blaming because I feel like they are planning on maintaining the lifestyle they did not save to support by draining everything from my generation and all the younger (and not coincidentally browner) ones that come after.

[eselle28]

Yeah, I cannot believe I actually read it after reading his name (Brett is a douche)

I went back and waded in just a bit, and was immediately repulsed. Aside from generational issues, I think it's both cruel and disingenuous of him to pick on a young gay/bi man who died by suicide. Is he honestly trying to claim that young men of his generation never reacted in similar ways in response to being bullied or discriminated against due to their sexual orienation? I'm pretty sure I've read a couple of studies that suggest otherwise.

[reboot]

I know! That was awful. And honestly, he is a man who has sex with men who grew up in a less accepting time, how the fuck did he not realize that being involuntarily outed is often a reason for suicide in all generations?

[caliseivy]

I looked up the generations, and noticed it's Gen X, Gen Millennial (which is/was sometimes called Gen Y), and the next is to be Gen Z.
That's...pretty uninspired.

It bothered me because I vaguely remember hearing about the young man after he committed suicide and whether the one who filmed him was bullying him or not. Ellis's re-framing ignores the other possible (and most likely) causes of him committing suicide. I failed to see how that situation could have been viewed as a "prank." I think the guy who filmed him also put it on social media and there might have been mention of other people harassing him, I don't recall the details.

Saying he has a Millennial boyfriend doesn't automatically give him better insight either.

[reboot]

I looked up the generations, and noticed it's Gen X, Gen Millennial (which is/was sometimes called Gen Y), and the next is to be Gen Z.
That's...pretty uninspired.

It bothered me because I vaguely remember hearing about the young man after he committed suicide and whether the one who filmed him was bullying him or not. Ellis's re-framing ignores the other possible (and most likely) causes of him committing suicide. I failed to see how that situation could have been viewed as a "prank." I think the guy who filmed him also put it on social media and there might have been mention of other people harassing him, I don't recall the details.

Saying he has a Millennial boyfriend doesn't automatically give him better insight either.

"I have a black roommate so let me talk out my ass about the black community",-itis or mansplaing applied to a generation  
O
One person does not a generation/gender/race/orientation/culture make

[Guest]

Seconded. My generation (X) were the slacker, unmotivated, ambition less, identity less, underachievers who failed to carry on the aspirations of the baby boomers and make the world a better place. Now we complain about millennials (which is weird to me because I work with a lot of millennials and aside from needing more constant feedback are no different from people my age or older work wise ) as the boomers complained against us and one day millennials will complain about whatever group comes next.

Everything you described about Generation X, is translated to my generation as well. It's all one giant circle, I feel. I've seen the movie Clerks, one of many Generation X films that still rocks. I watched it for the first time when I was 12 and it was just a silly funny movie. Then I watched it a few months ago at age 23 and holy shit did it resonate better now than it did when I was younger. It's kind of a scary movie in a sick and twisted existential way.

Y'all should be happy about one thing, though, at least your pundit applied label is a complete word.  WTF is X? Does that make us the unknown?

Actually, Millennials are Generation Y. I don't know how either generation were named as such, but rest assured, both of our generations are similar in their youths, but ultimately different in our later ideals I think.

I'm on the cusp and identify more with Generation X than with Millennials, but I don't have much patience for Millennial shaming. In addition to what others have pointed out about other generations having been in the same position, I would highlight that it somehow always seems to be the youngest group of people entering the workforce and the voting population who get this negative label and that it tends to be the generations with the greatest amount of social, economic, and cultural power who apply it. It's rhetoric that's designed to make you sit down, shut up, and stop asking for what you deserve.

(I'll admit that I didn't get further than Bret Easton Ellis's name before I clicked the article shut, but generation-shaming tends to be pretty easy to predict.)

Pretty much this as well.

I'm sick of hearing how my generation sucks even from people that are IN my generation, yes, I get it, we're not perfect. But neither was the generation before I or the one before that. There are some people who're lousy at their jobs, but everyone can be lousy at their job, that's not exclusive to just young people. Generation shaming is just a tired trend if you ask me. There are somethings I will NEVER fully grasp about the next generation from mine which is growing up much faster than mine did.

It's an exercise in futility trying to convince what the new generation is doing is wrong or stupid or whatever. Kinda like sagging, I haven't seen many people sag their pants anymore, it's actually kinda refreshing.

[eselle28]

I don't know how either generation were named as such

Newsweek came up with the labels. Explains a lot, right?

[Caffeinated]

Y'all should be happy about one thing, though, at least your pundit applied label is a complete word.  WTF is X? Does that make us the unknown?

I thought we got our name from the novel by Douglas Coupland.

(I'll admit that I didn't get further than Bret Easton Ellis's name before I clicked the article shut, but generation-shaming tends to be pretty easy to predict.)

Yeah, I cannot believe I actually read it after reading his name (Brett is a douche)

Bret Easton Ellis is the worst. After reading Less Than Zero, I vowed to never read another word he wrote, because yuck. Just yuck.

[Herr R]

I was born on the ass-end of Gen X and the rise of the Millenials. Even so, I agree with the assessment that Millenails are indeed "Generation Wuss". Say what you will about the Boomers and Gen X. At least they didn't expect the world to bend over for them and make it a "safe place" where their feelings would never get hurt and they were anti-censorship and irreverent as hell. So why do millenials seem to be the exact opposite? With the demands for the suppression of "problematic" content under the guise of "trigger warnings" and screaming "oppression" every time someone doesn't agree with their point of view?

[nearly_takuan]

I would "blame" advancements in our understanding of human psychology, and its increasing legitimacy as a practice. As noted on Monday's Paging article, we're still not totally there yet, but we are beginning to shift our society toward recognizing that mental harm is a real thing. So when we see that a certain cross-section of people has PTSD reactions around certain forms of mental harm, we weigh that against our reasons for wanting to inflict that harm (e.g. humor) more heavily than perhaps our ancestors would have.

It's growing pains; we're collectively adjusting to some relatively new senses. Some are too sensitive. Some aren't.

[Herr R]

Are we talking about genuine PTSD or just the self-diagnosed Tumblr version? If it's the latter, then getting "triggered" by something you read is bullshit.

[nearly_takuan]

Both. Because when I interact with a person on the internet, I don't have a way to know their reaction to anything I say except for what they say, in text. So if they say, that's a trigger, please avoid that subject, how can I know for sure whether it is "genuine PTSD" or not? Sounds like "genuine Windows". Do you have your mental trauma license number registered?

[Guest]

Newsweek came up with the labels. Explains a lot, right?

Holy shit, really?

I thought we got our name from the novel by Douglas Coupland.

So, it looks like most sources can confirm: nobody is sure where these names came from.

Bret Easton Ellis is the worst. After reading Less Than Zero, I vowed to never read another word he wrote, because yuck. Just yuck.

I have never read any work of his, I've just seen the movie adaptation American Psycho, which has taken on a life of it's own. In addition to that, I've seen all the nude scenes of The Canyons with Lindsay Lohan (i regret nothing) which is the real reason anyone saw that piece of crap. Even the trailer made the movie look like junk.

I was born on the ass-end of Gen X and the rise of the Millenials.  Even so, I agree with the assessment that Millenails are indeed "Generation Wuss". Say what you will about the Boomers and Gen X. At least they didn't expect the world to bend over for them and make it a "safe place" where their feelings would never get hurt and they were anti-censorship and irreverent as hell. So why do millenials seem to be the exact opposite? With the demands for the suppression of "problematic" content under the guise of "trigger warnings" and screaming "oppression" every time someone doesn't agree with their point of view?

Because the previous two generations made it that way when they realized, "Oh shit, I need to care and protect for this little poop machine." Plus, there are people who go overboard with their parenting and that's the ONLY point I can give Ellis.

[Herr R]

I'm pretty damn sure that real PTSD isn't triggered by random Internet text.People who claim that they are usually tend to be self-absorbed drama queens on Tumblr who don't know that they do not have the right to not be offended nor do they have the right to be coddled.

[Guest]

I'm pretty damn sure that real PTSD isn't triggered by random Internet text.People who claim that they are usually tend to be self-absorbed drama queens on Tumblr who don't know that they do not have the right to not be offended nor do they have the right to be coddled.

Well, you're wrong, so you can fuck off with telling trauma survivors that they're drama queens.

EDIT: This was harsher than I probably should have been, but seriously, dude, whether there are some overreacting folks or not, the idea that there is no one who could ever be triggered by text is absolutely false, and is insulting to people who actually have been. It's like saying that because some people gripe about loud noises disturbing them, no one could ever have a PTSD flashback because of a door slamming. Or that because some people lie about having food allergies so restaurants will take their "no onions" rule seriously, no one actually has food allergies, and they just want to be coddled. Or because some people lie about service animals so they can bring Fluffy into a restaurant, everyone with a legitimate service animal is self-absorbed.

I'm genuinely glad that you've never been in a place where something you read set off a full-scale panic attack. But it happens. To real people. And if internet spaces choose to make themselves more accessible to those people by including warnings of often-problematic content, why do you have to get pissy about it?

[Herr R]

That's why people used to learn to suck it up. Be it by themselves or with the help of others. Trauma survivors never expected total strangers to coddle them.

[Guest]

That's why people used to learn to suck it up. Be it by themselves or with the help of others. Trauma survivors never expected total strangers to coddle them.

So argue that they should suck it up.  Don't tell them their reaction didn't happen. Or that their PTSD isn't real.

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