> Online, where generational warfare is waged these days, many hold that the real Gen X range is 1961 to 1981 [...] The stakes of the argument are high: No one wants to be a millennial or a boomer.
Millennial wasn't a generation. It referred to those who were set to graduate from high school in the year 2000. Generation Y was the name of the generation that followed Generation X.
This is why there is debate between 1981 and 1982. It is dependent on how one's school system was setup. In my jurisdiction, the 1981 cohort is who graduated from high school in 2000. In other jurisdictions, it was those born in 1982.
So, never fear, those who are afraid of being labelled millennials. The window is much smaller than the article lets on.
When somebody begins talking about generation <n>, I kind of tune out, because I know whatever they say is probably going to be a superficial or even harmful generalization. It just feels distasteful.
It's like when somebody talks about 'west coasters' or 'blondes' or even the 'mom test'.
nytimes is really digging deep to generate controversy, huh? I haven't seen a non-scummy non-clickbaity title from one of their articles in a while, but they're hitting new lows 2025
This is a very different take than my own. I do agree with the author on one point. I think trying to pinpoint a specific range of years to define a generation is missing the point. It's more about culture and the experience of your upbringing than it is about a particular date. I was born in '83, and I couldn't identify more with GenX. I listened to all the same music, experienced the free-range childhood, share the ideology, etc.
That being said, I don't view it in a negative light at all. Whatsoever. I don't feel that the adults let us down. I don't consider myself a trauma victim. And I never felt alone. I, too, walked myself home from school and found my own snacks. And then I took off again. On my bike or on foot. I met up with friends or cousins and we lived a life I could only dream about now. We built forts, played in the mud, shot our bee bee guns. Rode bikes, used tools, fixed things. We crashed, we got hurt, we solved our own problems. We lived, we learned, we built confidence, capability, and self sufficiency. We had a freedom that makes me want to weep yearning for it now.
Our parents, mine at least, didn't neglect me. They trusted me. And they didn't trust me not to fuck up. They knew I'd do that. They trusted me to learn from it.
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[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 32.0 ms ] threadMillennial wasn't a generation. It referred to those who were set to graduate from high school in the year 2000. Generation Y was the name of the generation that followed Generation X.
This is why there is debate between 1981 and 1982. It is dependent on how one's school system was setup. In my jurisdiction, the 1981 cohort is who graduated from high school in 2000. In other jurisdictions, it was those born in 1982.
So, never fear, those who are afraid of being labelled millennials. The window is much smaller than the article lets on.
It's like when somebody talks about 'west coasters' or 'blondes' or even the 'mom test'.
That being said, I don't view it in a negative light at all. Whatsoever. I don't feel that the adults let us down. I don't consider myself a trauma victim. And I never felt alone. I, too, walked myself home from school and found my own snacks. And then I took off again. On my bike or on foot. I met up with friends or cousins and we lived a life I could only dream about now. We built forts, played in the mud, shot our bee bee guns. Rode bikes, used tools, fixed things. We crashed, we got hurt, we solved our own problems. We lived, we learned, we built confidence, capability, and self sufficiency. We had a freedom that makes me want to weep yearning for it now.
Our parents, mine at least, didn't neglect me. They trusted me. And they didn't trust me not to fuck up. They knew I'd do that. They trusted me to learn from it.