Generation thought bubble.

Sometimes, I get things stuck in my head and they stay there until I either talk or write about them. So in an effort to clear out my brain, at least on the topic of Generation X, here goes nothin...

Generation X has been described as a generation consisting of those people whose teen years were touched by the 1980s, although this excludes the oldest and youngest X'ers covered by the other definitions. Cameron Crowe, film director, posed as a high school student in 1980 to conduct research on a new generation in high school that was the first generation to study the Vietnam War as nothing more than a history lesson. This new generation did not worry about the draft which had been repealed when they were in elementary school. They also listened to a new kind of music, new wave music, and propelled a new generation of rock stars onto the charts as early as the late 1970s- The Pretenders, The Cars, Blondie (band), and Devo. Cameron Crowe titled his book, released in 1981, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, followed by a hit film of the same name in 1982. Those in high school at the beginning of the 1980s were the first Gen Xers, described so well by Cameron Crowe, and the Fast Times film remains the ultimate Generation X reference film almost a quarter-century later. Unfortunately, these first Gen Xers also had another first - they were the first to attend college during the beginning of the HIV/AIDs epidemic. HIV started making headlines in 1983 reminding Generation X that the "free love" enjoyed by college-age Baby Boomers was a thing of the past.

Source

Myths about Generation X

Taken from here and maybe some other quotes, too:

Myth 1: Gen Xers are slackers and don't want to work hard at anything.

That's bull. We do want to work hard. Our preference, of course, would be to work hard for OURSELVES as opposed to making some other guy rich on the backs of ours and our co-workers, but still. As easy as it would be these days to sit in front of the TV watching DVDs, playing Halo or sitting in front of the computer surfing the whole day away, none of us actually wants to do that. Not for free, at least. Now-a-days, one can get paid to play computer games all day, so it works out if that happens to be your goal.

We've witnessed the bloat of the 80s and don't want to repeat that crap.

"Generation X has to work twice as hard as Baby Boomers," said Chad Lahren, 19, a sophomore at UNR. "We (generation X) are constantly being downsized by Boomers and have to work double to prove ourselves."

Some employers still operate with that seniority-is-god bull. Even if the more senior employee is more like tits on a bull than an employee.

Myth 2: Members of Generation X do not care about themselves or their future.

Yeah, that must be why we're all in debt with student loans.

I actually recall when our parents started harping at us to not only finish high school, but to get accepted into colleges and get degrees because they feared NO ONE would hire us without that.

We're hoping like hell we actually manage to have a future after the 80s.

Myth 3: Gen Xers hang out in coffee shops all day smoking cigarettes with the post-college blues because they have nothing better to do.

Sure, sure... most of us have other critical non-work stuff that needs doing before we can launch into our much required leisure time. Many of us don't even drink coffee.

Myth 4: Gen Xers live at home longer.

Longer than the folks who married off their daughters as soon as possible to the first guy who hung around long enough? Perhaps this myth is sort of true, but it's not the whole picture. Besides... Gen Xers' parents would be Boomers, presumably. I seriously doubt that both generations can reside together for long.

Myth 5: Gen Xers are frustrated, hopeless and cynical.

We're frustrated at the mess of a planet we grew up into, sure. The pollution, the wars, the injustices we all should've grown out of a long time ago. Being stereotyped frustrates us.

Hopeless people don't generally bother trying to change the world around them. So that particular adjective... total crap.

Gen Xers being cynical is, again... not the whole picture. I think perhaps that we just cope with realities better than Boomers.

This guy is WORSE than any stereotypically cynical or hopeless Gen Xer. I found this site while sorta researching Generation X, so that when I wrote this, I'd talk out of my ass a little less.

I have to say.. reading this site disgusted me. Thankfully, the site hasn't been updated in 2 years. Not that it would matter too much because there is nothing but bullshit on it. All the singers, writers, comedians, et al. that this guy mentions are fine... He doesn't like them. Cool. He's not required to. Tastes are subjective.

"GenX has no sense of history, no connection to nor understanding of their place in the time stream - to pose is an end in itself for them. They think they are cool, yet they lack the basic knowledge that cool is ultimately about dissent, about original ideas - and posing, of course, is anathema to this."

Cripes. I pity this guy if he actually knows people like this. Also, I think he's a moron for saying things like:

"GenX would not even grasp the concept of wanting to be an educated person for the sake of being an educated person."

"Participating in civic affairs is simply a non-starter for them, unless it is somehow cool. No doubt the cycle will reverse itself at some point, and the whole lost generation that is X will suddenly become politically active - because it has become cool somehow...and they will read one issue of the Economist or watch a few episodes of Crossfire and instantly think themselves informed and start dictating their demands."

"Gen-X is loathsome for oh so many reasons, but primarily for their lack of politics."

Explain to me how a lack of politics, as this site owner accuses fits his Gen X stereotype about Jeanine Garofalo "She was, however, unintentionally hilarious during her saturation talkshow and news program appearances protesting the Iraq war, doing her usual shtick... admiring herself as she smugly sprays words while saying absolutely nothing." I tend to think that protesting something kind of denotes some sort of politics. Use brain, pal. It helps you be more observant.

I think that anyone who tries to define a generation ultimately gets it wrong. Some take it a few steps further and imbue their definitions with insults and hate. Judging by the ihategenx site... there's not much in the way of actual research being done either. Hell, I love a good rant, but it's a little hard to read when it's all bullshit.