09-23-2019, 03:01 AM
(08-06-2019, 03:41 PM)Ghost Wrote:(08-06-2019, 11:57 AM)AspieMillennial Wrote:(08-06-2019, 10:56 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:(08-05-2019, 07:47 PM)Ghost Wrote:(08-05-2019, 03:05 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: I hope the Pew dates fade away. Generations are not 15 years long. 2003 is correct; 2004 is OK. Homelanders is just a name thrown around on this forum; it has no other platform and will face away. It also implies that this generation is about dealing with the aftermath of 9-11. Gen Z seems like it's catching on. I called them that in my 1997 book.
When the term "Gen Z" is used, the 1981-1996 and 1982-2000 definitions are always the most common definitions for Millennials, even though most will probably agree that 1981 is an X year (I'm pretty sure everyone on here, myself included, thinks that 1981 is a Gen X birthyear).
Now regarding the Gen Z name - the only reason why it is named that is because Gen Xers are called Gen X and Millennials were at one point called Gen Y. It'll probably fade away overtime, but I don't doubt that it'll still start in either 1997 or 2000.
The latest birthyear I have seen lumped as being a "Millennial" though is 2006, which might surprise you.
I regard 1981 as a Gen X year, but it's on the cusp; I do accept the idea of cusps; it's just common sense. Nothing is so strictly bordered in the living world.
The most-common definitions and dating of the last millennial year are given by Pew Research, which is not a study of generational traits, but only demographics. It's like saying Boomers began in 1946 because that's when the baby boom started.
Gen Z will eventually be regarded as starting in 2003, at least among those who study generations and not demographics. And Gen Z will go all the way to 2024, because the 1T is not going to start until 2028 or 2029. Mr. Howe still says Gen Z starts in 2004, and we here should use that date or close to it, and not 1997 or 2000.
Gen Z is the name that has caught on so far. But if there's another name that comes along that describes them, and it catches on, the name could change. There's no such name yet, although people on T4T forums have speculated about it and offered names. That's always fun to do, but it doesn't mean that what we say here will catch on in the media zeitgeist. Mr. Howe adopted a name that someone here suggested, years ago now (Homelanders), but that name has not caught on because it doesn't fit. Since letters are used now for generations, as I suggested in my 1997 book, I suspect every generation will have a letter from now on, even if that's not the primary name. Not because I said so though, of course
The next prophets, yet to be born, are already being called Generation Alpha, or the Alpha Wave Generation. I think that's a cool name.
1981 is late X. I don't accept the idea of cusps because I'm born outside the XY cusp yet have done many of the things in childhood and teens that pure Millennials supposedly have not done. Since it says I haven't done these things because I was born outside of the range it means the cusp is garbage. If I have experienced these things that "core Millennials" supposedly haven't then what makes me different from this supposed cusp range? I read an article on the cusp and experienced those very same things. This means the category is arbitrary and artificial.
I have a feeling that the reason why 1981 borns are occasionally called Millennials is because they apply to the "not at school when the Challenger exploded but were at school when Columbine happened" rule.
Despite applying to the rule, I still believe that they're late Gen X overall and have more in common with people born in 1976 than people born in 1986.
*1981 borns may still remember the Challenger explosion whereas 1986 borns (almost all of them) were born after it happened.
*1981 borns spent most of their elementary school years before the Berlin Wall fell.
*1981 borns were probably too old for Nicktoons despite still being in elementary school when they came out.
*1981 borns were already in high school when Windows 95 came out, a release that changed technology forever.
*1981 borns might have been part of the grunge subculture, which lasted from around 1990/1991 to 1995/early 1996 and peaked in around 1993/1994. Using this reason will break the 18-year generation theory for sure though (because on a similar note, you could argue about 2002 borns being part of the hipster subculture, which lasted from around 2011/2012 to 2016/early 2017 and without a doubt peaked in 2015). This is where the 84-year saeculums and 21-year generations come to play.
*Most importantly to why they are still Gen X, they graduated high school before Y2K, unless they had a late birthday.
*Not necessarily important, but the "stereotypical Millennial" celebrities weren't really born until 1986 because that's when Amanda Bynes, the Olsen twins, and Lindsay Lohan were born. Most people will consider 1981 Gen X but everyone will consider 1986 Millennial.
I do agree as well, and expect that one reason 1981 cohorts are grouped with millennials, at least in the media, is because it's easier just to round off their dates to "born in the 1980s and 1990s."