Generation X

For other uses, see Generation X (disambiguation).

Generation X is a term used to describe generations in many countries around the world which were born between 1964 and 1980. The exact demographic boundaries of Generation X are not well defined, depending on who is using the term, where and when. The term is used in demography, the social sciences, and marketing, though it is most often used in popular culture. The generation's influence over pop culture began in the 1980s and may have peaked in the 1990s.

One of the defining factors some use to describe of Generation X is the transitions resulting from the decline of colonial imperialism to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. Another more prevalent factor is a bell curve bottoming out in American births from 1960 through 1980, after the American baby boom from 1946 to 1964. A small, often "invisible generation" in the wake of the socially-reconstructing baby boomers, those born in the U.S. between 1964 (often cited as 1961: see Coupland and Strauss and Howe, below) and 1980 received the "X" tag for lack of a defining social identity. Keep in mind, this does not define all people of this generation, which, also, evolved into being a very culturally diverse generation.

As young adults, Generation X drew media attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gaining a stereotypical reputation as apathetic, cynical, disaffected, streetwise loners and slackers (again, this description doesn't cover all of this generation; mainly those who received the most attention at the time). As Generation Xers have now become parents, however, their media persona is gradually becoming more that of protective security moms and dads in a post 9/11 world.

As a side note, not all of those who are defined as being part of Generation X welcome this rather negative name for the generation. The name tends to be shirked mainly by (but not limited to) the following: Gen Xers who highly respected the Baby Boom generation (from their shared values to their diverse cultural norms), those who retained a faith in government or politics in general (in spite of their criticism of its problems), those who could be defined as having been overachievers (unlike the stereotype of the underachiever Gen Xer), those who were more socially group oriented (not the stereotype of the loner, as listed above), individuals who were highly religious (to varying degrees, beliefs, and styles of worship), of those whose musical tastes didn't include Heavy Metal Rock, Rap (hip hop) or Alternative Rock during their adolescence (or those who had a broad musical taste), and even those who were financially stable or successful in their careers and their lives.

In addition, Generation X is noted as one of the most entrepreneurial and tech-friendly generations in American history , as they've driven a majority of the Internet's growth and ingenuity from day one. Google, Yahoo, MySpace, Dell, and other billion-dollar tech companies were founded by people in the Generation X demographic.

History

Origins

The term was first used in a 1964 study of British youth by Jane Deverson. Deverson was asked by the editor of the magazine "Woman's Own" to conduct a series of interviews with teenagers of the time. The study revealed a generation of teenagers who "sleep together before they are married, don't believe in God, dislike the Queen, and don't respect parents," which was deemed unsuitable for the magazine because it was a new phenomenon. Deverson, in an attempt to save her research, worked with Hollywood correspondent Charles Hamblett to create a book about the study. Hamblett decided to name it Generation X.

Popularization

The term, Generation X, was later popularized by Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland in Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (1991), which describes the angst of those born between roughly 1960 and 1965, who felt no connection to the cultural icons of the baby boom generation. In Coupland's usage, the X referred to the namelessness of a generation that was coming into an awareness of its existence as a separate group but feeling overshadowed by the boomer generation of which it was ostensibly a part.

File:Generationzxthgde.jpg

The novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized the term "Generation X."

Coupland took the X from Paul Fussell's 1983 book Class, where the term "Category X" designated a region of America's social hierarchy, rather than a generation. However, this term has transcended its roots in that country and expanded into other areas of the West. Coupland first wrote of Generation X in September 1987 (Vancouver magazine, "Generation X," pp. 164-169, 194: see illustrations below), which was a precursor to the novel and slightly preceded the term "twentysomething." Coupland referred to those born from 1958 to 1966 in Canada or from 1958 to 1964 in the United States (see trailing edge boomer). As Coupland explained in a 1995 interview, "In his final chapter, Fussell named an 'X' category of people who wanted to hop off the merry-go-round of status, money, and social climbing that so often frames modern existence." As the term Generation X later became somewhat interchangeable with "twentysomething", he later revised his notion of Generation X to include anyone considered "twentysomething" in the years 1987 to 1991. In fact, while the book is often seen as being an accurate description of the generation, Coupland maintains that the book was meant to show the lack of a single description for it. In the US, at times the term "baby busters" is used interchangeably with "Generation X," Regan Generation and MTV Generation can typically to denote those born starting in 1965, with various dates offered for its ending year. In this sense, 1975 may be an appropriate cut-off year as the "echo boomer" cohort (recognized by the Census Bureau and other demographers) started in 1976 as birth rates began to rise.

With the rise of Geopolitics, death of Disco and the identification of AIDS in the late 70' and early 80's some would make the cut off anywhere from 79-81. Most often the term would characterize you as "Generation X." From Easybake ovens to ET, it seemed that Staw Wars was more interesting than the Cold War, as they grew up in a largley Republican rule. Often seen as the Anti-Boomer, the antidote to tie die was the "Izod". m.cline writer

Developing the theme of "Generation X-ness", further subgroups of Generation X have been proposed to describe the changes in the socio-political beliefs and experiences of those growing up and reaching adulthood in each successive decade. This now gives us:
Generation X for those in the (60’s & early 70’s) – the original Generation X;
Generation X-wing (late 70’s & early 80’s) – moulded by their exposure to the star wars trilogy and a changing geopolitical arena and heightened tensions on the world arena with evil oppressive empires out to destroy the peace loving democratic civilisations;
Generation X-tacy (late 80’s & early 90’s) arose from the ecstasy/rave scene and saw a significant shift in the concerns of the generation with the thawing of the cold war and a perception of a new, less responsible lifestyle;
Generation X-factor (late 90’s and 2000’s) has now emerged with the proliferation of reality instant fame television programmes promising instant fame and fortune.
However, the Generations do not end here, for the latest government health warnings on the dangers of our new passive lifestyle have already given a name to the next generation – Those children growing up and reaching adulthood over the next 10 or so years will become Generation X-Large. Generation X is a label for more than just the generation following the baby boomers.

Early on in th 90's as the core reached their 20's the term loosly characterized or extensively described a Hollywood notion of the attitude of being unmotivated, rebellious, TV-nurtured and generally careless. This by "x"ers was seen as somewhat true but in reality not so given that the "X" generation was more educated and enjoyed higher education status and opportunity's than did all past generations including boomers. As they aged they traded thier break dancing in for a corner office and tech start ups. Once languishing in youth this is multi talented generation. Just ask Diddy, Jay Z and Julia Roberts who are all "X" ers or what about "Google and You Tube creaters" whom are all "X'ers too. Very "Entreprenueral" this is a hybrid generation roughly those between the ages of 28-47 (core being 32-45) and are having to make sense of and hold both old and new tradtions and balance the global technology community. Raised in a very "Consumer" driven culture they are now attempting to hold a balance bewteen friends and family and now parenthood. The characterized version of this generation would be TV shows like, "Friends." They often have decidely different views than their Boomer counterparts, they saw the 'ill" effects of the free love movement and were nutured with "Safe Sex" montra's and "Aid's campaigns. Socially conscience but not counter culture they are pro prison and anti pot. In the 80's it was a material world as Madonna would attest. This real materialism of youth was the soup that they disdained in their twenties having seen the sell out of the Boomer ideal, they fueled the marketing and TV backlash of the 90's and 2000's. As time went on in their 30's this generation is unique in that is was birthed in a time of great Geo-political, Moral and Technological shifts. Seemingly having to hold both the optimism of their parents & grandparents and their love and dependence on the rise in Technology which their younger bros, sis, nieces and nephews whom are Generation "Y" and Millenials know so well. M.Cline writer

Some also call this the "MTV Generation". A "Gen-Xer" in this context is characterized by growing up around video games, home PCs and many times split households. Brad Pitt's character Tyler Durden describes this characterization in the movie "Fight Club" by saying "We are a generation of men raised by women." Using this definition, A "Gen-Xer could have been born any time between the late 60's to early 2000's.

13th generation

In the book Generations, William Strauss and Neil Howe called this generation the "13th Generation" because it's the 13th to know the flag of the United States (counting back to the peers of Benjamin Franklin). Strauss and Howe defined the birth years of the 13th Generation as 1961 to 1981 based on examining peaks and troughs in cultural trends rather than simply looking at birth rates. Howe and Strauss speak of six influences that they believe have shaped Generation 13. These influences are as follows:

• Increase in divorce
• Increase in mothers in the work place
• The zero population growth movement
• "Devil-child films"

Generation X in the United States

Generation X is generally marked by its lack of optimism for the future, nihilism, cynicism, skepticism, alienation and mistrust in traditional values and institutions. Following the publication of Coupland's book (and the subsequent popularity of grunge music) the term stretched to include more people, being appropriated as the generation that succeeded the Baby Boomers, and used by the media and the general public to denote people who were in their twenties. During the early 1990s, the media portrayed Generation X as a group of flannel-wearing, alienated, overeducated, underachieving slackers with body piercings, who drank franchise-store coffee and had to work at McJobs, concepts that had some truth to them but were in many cases stereotypes.

Generation X thinking has significant overtones of cynicism against things held dear to the previous generation, mainly the Baby Boomers. Another cultural hallmark of Generation X was grunge music, which grew out of the frustrations and disenchantment of X teenagers and young adults. The fashion of grunge music was exemplified by the bands Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, The Pixies, Sonic Youth, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana. The grunge of the 1990s was influenced by 1970s punk and heavy metal of the 1970s and 1980s.

The attitude of Generation X towards religion is complex. Many Generation Xers are indifferent toward religion. Some take a hostile stance toward the religion of their parents. Many Xers do in fact believe in God or at least "a higher power" and are accepting of the plurality of world religions. One commonality of Generation X's religious perspective is the noted lack of dogmatism.

Generation X grew up during the end of the Cold War and the Ronald Reagan eras. As the first of their cohort reached adulthood, they experienced the collapse of the Soviet Union and the United States of America's emergence as the world's lone superpower. Generation X has been the largest generational military service block in American history and the most educated military force fielded by the United States with more enlisted and officer ranked persons holding Bachelor and Master's degrees than their World War II grandfathers. Generation X doesn't suffer the "Vietnam complex" fatigue of its parents and is more likely to identify themselves with their World War II grandparents in values, morals and practical living skills.

The employment of Generation X is volatile. Generation Xers grew up in a rapidly deindustrializing Western world, experienced the economic recession of the early 1990s and 2000s, saw the traditional permanent job contracts disappearing and becoming unsecure short-term contracts, experienced offshoring and outsourcing and often experienced years of unemployment or underemployment at typical jobs, such as McJobs in their young adulthood. Many found themselves overeducated and underemployed, leaving a deep sense of insecurity in Generation Xers, whose usual attitude to work is Take the money and run. They no longer take any employment for granted, as their baby boomer parents did, nor do they consider unemployment a stigmatizing catastrophe.

The perception of Generation X during the early 1990s was summarized in a featured article in Time Magazine:

. . .They possess only a hazy sense of their own identity but a monumental preoccupation with all the problems the preceding generation will leave for them to fix . . .This is the twentysomething generation, those 48 million young Americans ages 18 through 29 who fall between the famous baby boomers and the boomlet of children the baby boomers are producing. Since today's young adults were born during a period when the U.S. birthrate decreased to half the level of its postwar peak, in the wake of the great baby boom, they are sometimes called the baby busters. By whatever name, so far they are an unsung generation, hardly recognized as a social force or even noticed much at all...By and large, the 18-to-29 group scornfully rejects the habits and values of the baby boomers, viewing that group as self-centered, fickle and impractical. While the baby boomers had a placid childhood in the 1950s, which helped inspire them to start their revolution, today's twentysomething generation grew up in a time of drugs, divorce and economic strain. . .They feel paralyzed by the social problems they see as their inheritance: racial strife, homelessness, AIDS, fractured families and federal deficits.[4]

In economics, a study was done (by Pew Charitable Trusts, the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Urban Institute) that challenges the notion that each generation will be better off than the one that preceded it. The study, 'Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well?" focuses on the income of males 30-39 in 2004 (those born April, 1964 – March, 1974) and is based on Census/BLS CPS March supplement data.

The study, which made national headline news on May 25, 2007, emphasizes that in real dollars, that cohort made less (by -12%) than their fathers at the same age in 1974, thus reversing a historic trend. The study also suggests that per year increases in father/son family household income has slowed (from 0.9% to 0.3% average), barely keeping pace with inflation, though progressively higher each year due to more women entering the workplace contributing to family household income.

According to the US Census Bureau, from 1993 to 2006, males grossed less than their fathers (defined as the cohort 30-years prior, about the average age of fatherhood) at the same age, using combined real median income and based on the following criteria:

• At ages 25-34, those born from about 1965-1981
• At ages 30-39, those born from about 1963-1976
• At ages 25-39, those born from about 1964-1981

International factors defining Generation X

In continental Europe, the generation is often known as Generation E, or simply known as the Nineties Generation, along the lines of such other European generation names as "Generation of 1968" and "Generation of 1914." In France, the term Génération Bof is in use, with "bof" being a French word for "whatever," considered by some French people to be the defining Generation-X saying. In Iran, they are called the Burnt Generation. In some Latin American countries the name "Crisis Generation" is sometimes used due to the recurring financial crisis in the region during those years. In the Communist bloc, these Generation-Xers are often known to show a deeper dislike of the Communist system than their parents because they grew up in an era of political and economic stagnation, and were among the first to embrace the ideals of Glasnost and Perestroika, which is why they tend to be called the Glasnost-Perestroika Generation. In USSR, in particular, they were often called "a generation of stokers and watchmen", referring to their tendency to take non-challenging jobs leaving them with plenty of free time, similar to Coupland's Xers. In Finland, the X-sukupolvi is sometimes derogatorily called pullamössösukupolvi (bun mash generation) by the Baby Boomers, saying "those whiners have never experienced any difficulties in their lives" (the recession of the early 1990s hit the Xers hardest--it hit just when they were about to join the work force), while the Xers call the Boomers kolesterolisukupolvi (cholesterol generation) due to their often unhealthy dietary habits. Japan has a generation with characteristics similar to those of Generation X, shin jin rui.

Developing countries, too, have a Generation X, but it differs from that in the West, due to poor education and little disposable income. The version of Generation X that the developing nations experience essentially came out of the end of World War II and the subsequent decline of colonial occupation, the changes demanded on social hierarchy that it accompanied among the second generation born since the Second World War, and the duality of democratic transition amid increasing information blockade and ever-increasing numbers of people seeking urban life over an agrarian economy.

The alleged version of Generation X in the developing world is the following:

• its need to redefine social norms to newer socio-economic systems
• the sheer pace at which they need to adapt to new social influences along with the need to integrate them into their native, cultural context
• the constant aspiration for a more egalitarian society in cultures that were long colonized and have an even longer history of hierarchical social structure.

The aspects that bind Generation X across economic levels and cultures are the defining points of the 1970s: the Bretton Woods system and its subsequent failure, the impact of the first oral contraceptive pills on social-interactional dynamics, and the oil shock of 1973.

Other common international influences defining Generation X across the world include: increasingly flexible and varied gender roles for women contrasted with even more rigid gender roles for men, the unprecedented socio-economic impact of an ever increasing number of women entering the non-agrarian economic workforce, and the sweeping cultural-religious impact of the Iranian revolution towards the end of the 1970s in 1979.

The international experience of a cultural transition like Generation X, although in various forms, revealed the inter-dependence of economies since World War II in 1945, and showed the huge impact of American economic policies on the world.

Generation X references

The section below is an attempt to compare differing concepts of Generation X birth years.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005067.html

Best-selling authors

• Cheung, Edward "Baby Boomers, Generation X and Social Cycles" "The Ultimate Generation X book"
• Zemke, Ron & Raines, Claire & Filipczak, Bob "Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace" American Management Association, 2000, ISBN 0814404804.
  • 1960-1980
• Ritchie, Karen "Marketing to Generation X" Free Press, 2002, ISBN 0743236580.
  • 1961-1981
• Strauss, William & Howe, Neil "Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069" HarperCollins, 1992, ISBN 0688119123.
  • 1961-1981 (13th Generation)
• Tulgan, Bruce "RainmakerThinking, Inc" "Managing Generation X: How to Bring Out the Best in Young Talent" Capstone Ltd, 2003, ISBN 1900961091. Interviewing thousands of Xers, his definition has undergone modification:
  • 1963-1981, with 1961 & 1962 as "cuspers" (1995), based on Strauss & Howe
  • 1963-1977, with 1961 & 1962 as cuspers (1996-2000)
  • 1965-1977, with 1963 & 1964 as cuspers (2001)
  • 1965-1977, with 1960-1964 as cuspers (2002-2006) but usually only referred to as Baby Boomers (1946-1964) in company newsletters
  • 1965-1977 (2007) those born 1946-1953 referred to as "older boomers", 1954-1964 as "younger boomers"
• Foot, David "Footwork Consulting Inc." "Boom, Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift" Saint Anthony Messenger Press and Franciscan, 1997, ISBN 0921912978.
  • Generation X are post-birth-peak Boomers, 1960-1966 (Canada), 1958-1964 (US). Statistics Canada (US Census Bureau equivalent) also observes this demographic based on Foot's research.
• Smith, J Walker & Clurman, Ann S "Rocking the Ages: The Yankelovich Report on Generational Marketing" Collins; Reprint edition, 1998, ISBN 0887309003.
  • Yankelovich Partners, One of the largest consumer research organizations in the US maintains the years 1965-1978. Trailing Boomers, 1960-1964, are referred to as the bridge between generations. The main distinction between bridgers and Xers is a brief economic boom for the former in the mid-eighties, whereas the latter generational cohort has never been able to presume economic success. "Trailing Boomers thus bridge generations - the last Boomers expecting perpetual abundance and the first Xers faced with breakdown and uncertainty." (p. 81)

Contemporary references and definitions

• The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000)
  • The generation following the post-World War II baby boom, especially people born in the United States and Canada from the early 1960s to the late 1970s.
• Compact Oxford English Dictionary (2006)
  • The generation born between the mid 1960s and the mid 1970s, perceived as being disaffected and directionless.
• Link Magazine: "Marketing Madness: A Postmortem for Generation X" (1997)
  • Examines the divergent age groups ascribed to the Generation X generational cohort by various media and demographers.
• US Census Bureau "Census 2000 Ethnographic Study" (June 17, 2003)
  • "For the purpose of this study, Generation X is defined as people aged 21 to 32, that is, respondents born during the years 1968-1979. Various studies define Generation X differently by age, with some analysis' categorizing people born in 1961 as the cohort's oldest members, while others use a younger upper boundary to demarcate the age group (Craig and Earl Bennett, 1997). Only in hindsight will the boundaries for this cohort become clearer."
• Statistics Canada "Census Consultation Guide - Age, Sex, and Marital/Common-law Status" (1996/2001)
  • "Generation X. Generation Xers, the back-end boomers [1960-1966], entered the labor market in the early 1980s, when jobs were scarce. Since then, this generation has struggled to gain employment due to a weak economy and the bulk of the jobs being filled by the baby boomers. How will these people cope until the baby boomers begin to retire early in the next century? Are they more inclined to work at two or three jobs or seasonally?"

Periodicals and cinema

• Time Magazine "Twentysomething" (cover story - July 16, 1990)
  • 18-29 year-olds (1961-1972) "Members of the tail end of the boom generation, now ages 26 through 29, often feel alienated from the larger group, like kid brothers and sisters who disdain the paths their siblings chose." (p. 57)
• Time Magazine "Great X-pectations" (cover story - June 9, 1997) Three sets appeared in the story:
  • 1965-1977 (p. 58)
  • "If twentysomethings entered the decade floundering in the job market, did they deserve to be labeled dazed and confused?" [1961-1972] (p. 60)
  • 1965-1976 (p. 62)
• New York Times "Yes, the Screen Is Tiny, but the Plans Are Big" (June 17, 2007)
  • Chart refers to Generation X as "Ages 27-40", indicating those born 1967-1980
• Reality Bites (film) (1994) written by Helen Childress. An aspiring videographer working on a documentary called Reality Bites about the disenfranchised lives of her friends and roommates. Their challenges, both documented and not, exemplify the career and other lifestyle choices and issues faced by their generation.
• Singles (film) (1992). A group of twenty-something friends, most of whom live in the same apartment complex, search for love and success in grunge-era Seattle. The soundtrack billed as the "music of a generation searching for itself" (Warner home video).
• The show Friends is often known as a Generation X portrait. The characters were teenagers during the 1980s and have the typical attitude and lifestyle of their generation, especially in the employment and relationships subjects.
• Slacker (1991). Much of the cast was born in the early 1960s, with others in the late 1950s and late 1960s, spanning the "Baby Bust" years.
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off (film) (1986). Teen slacker movie. The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller Matthew Broderick, who, one spring day, decides to skip school and spend the day in downtown Chicago with his friends. Quintessentially X, when times were good in the 80s before the recession.
• Clerks (film) (1994). The story of two Generation X'ers working deadend jobs, struggling to find meaning in their relationships and their work. Filled with pop culture references, the movie is filled with rapid fire dialogue and offers a humorous portrait of Generation Xers emphasis on relationships over career. Kevin Smith's first movie.
• Pump Up The Volume
• Kicking and Screaming
• Before Sunrise and Before Sunset

Notable People of this Generation

---

• Julie Roberts
• Barack Obama
• Tom Cruz
• TuPac
• Diddy Combs
• Brad Pitt
• Maria Bartiromo
• Sergei Brin
• Matt Damon
• Topher Grace
• Hugh Jackman
• Nicole Kidman
• Soledad O'Brien
• Larry Page
• Penelope Cruz
• Rachel Ray
• Brandon Routh
• Tiffani Amber Thiessen
• Kate Winslet
• Markos Moulitsas Zuniga

See also

• Baby Boomer
• Generation Y
• MTV Generation

External links

• Early Xer: Things that early Gen Xers grew up with
• CBC Digital Archives – Generation X: Lives on Hold
• Bicentennial Baby: Musings on Generation X and Y
• New Learning Strategies for Generation X - from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education.