“Can you hear them?” GenX. “They talk about us.”*
A documentary on National Geographic about GenX grabbed my attention and seemed a perfect choice to binge on a crappy Sunday morning. I was refilling my coffee cup when I heard him and there was no mistaking the voice forever burned into my teen psyche. Perfect choice for binging indeed because narrating the return to my childhood was none other than snarky Tiger Beat cover boy, Christian Slater.
Since then, I’ve consumed so much media about Boomers, GenX, GenZ, and GenA (ha-ha, Forest Gump). The net is saturated with it (or maybe it’s my algorithm). And I’ve asked myself why I would even add to the pile? Well, because WE finally have a seat at the adult’s table having been ignored, cast off as difficult, and underestimated for far too long. It’s time to step into the arena, GenX. It’s time to have the discussions that our parents and grandparents couldn’t or wouldn’t have. The conversations our younger counterparts are already having. And maybe, just this once, our voice will finally be heard before we retire back to the fringe.
One article stuck out and I’m sorry for not sourcing the author, but they dubbed themselves our unofficial spokesperson. And that’s the rub of GenX – our knee-jerk response, the automatic NO, an immediate middle finger to the sky when we are met with the labels and boxes mainstream society likes so much. It’s our fight then flight response, hardwired in our DNA. And even if we agree with the cliche…once a rebel, always a rebel.
GenX doesn’t have a spokesperson – never wanted or needed one. We let our motivations, inspirations, voting registrations, and our middle fingers do the talking. We speak, or don’t, for ourselves. Buying the things we like, wearing the clothes we like, still listening to the music you don’t like (RIP Ozzy!) and supporting the causes that matter to us. But if you insist on one, I nominate Pedro Pascal.
Who is GenX anyway?
Depends on who you ask. I’ve found various date ranges from multiple sources. It’s the same with most generations, although most agree on The Silent Generation timeframe. A social generation, like what we’re talking about here, is defined as a group of people born during certain political, global and social events. Shaping how we view the world and our place in it.
For me, I look at Astrology, namely Pluto, instead of the ambiguous timeframes from the net. Pluto is what we call a “generational planet”. I know astrology is a lil woo-woo for a lot of people, but the stereotypes and generalities given to each generation, outside of astrology, lines up pretty perfectly with the generalities and stereotypes from the influence of Pluto. If you’re interested in learning more about it, this is a great article from a site I love (I’m not an affiliate) – The 12 Pluto Generations: Names And Characteristics | YourTango
GenX Cusp (Boomer Lite)– Born from 1958-71. The Cold War and Watergate babies.
Pluto in Virgo – Efficient, hardworking, reliable, trustworthy, empathetic. Rebuilders and researchers. The peacekeepers, paving the way for technological advancements. Always prepared. I wonder if a lot of preppers have Pluto in Virgo.
Gen X – Born from 1971-84 OR 1965-80 OR 1961-1981. Shaped by the Golden Age of Serial Killers, Stranger Danger, The AIDS Pandemic, Black Monday, and the war on drugs.
Pluto in Libra – Social, compassionate, duty bound with an inherent need for justice. People pleasers driven by harmony and righting the wrongs of an unjust social system.
Sounds about right!
Raised during the second act of most of our parents lives and left to our own devices, we survived it in a flannel, ripped Levis, chucks and docs. Walking to asbestos filled schools in a haze of Lead Paint and Agua Net, watching outdated AFTER SCHOOL SPECIALS without time-out rooms or support animals. Thankfully we had PBS and our version of mental health therapists growing up – Dolly Parton, Bob Ross and Mr. Rogers!
And if you can, support your local PBS Station. Click here to Donate online – pretty, pretty please with Kevin Bacon on top!
“Can you see them? See right through them.”*
We were the first generation of kids targeted by advertisers (and movie makers). Those “Virtually Spotless” Mad Men made it so easy for us to recognize the formula after being inundated with their campaigns year after year. Desperate to get us to continue buying the hype, but we were smarter. We stopped falling for the gimmick, the razzle, the new and improved version of the same ol’ shit. New Coke anyone? Exactly! So don’t peddle your wears here – NO Soliciting unless you’re a kid or have tacos. If we wanted IT, we’d already have it. That yuppy 80’s version of adulthood we were spoon fed isn’t for us! However, we still want our MTV!
“Why don’t they make stuff like they used to?” To get us to buy more shit. “Is your refrigerator running?” If not, you shouldn’t have bought one from a company that should stick to making phones instead of major appliances. I’m on my 3rd in 15 years but my Sony Clock Radio is still by my bedside since 1989. Things that make you go “hmmm”.
“Pay no mind to what they say. Doesn’t matter anyway.”*
We are the “We are the World, Hands across America, Buy the World a Coke” generation. Born during the Golden Age of Serial Killers and Child Stealers and unfortunately the ones who ushered in the age of school shootings with the Columbine tragedy (both killers were GenX). Bottled fed by the light of The Cold War, watching the stock market crash, the Challenger explode and the AIDS crisis implode. “Stranger Danger” and “Are they gonna drop the bomb or not?” became our catchphrases.
The once again letdown and lied to by the “adults” in charge generation. We didn’t need internet, social media, or the 6 o’clock news to tell us that the vast majority of politicians, church leaders, and CEOs are liars and con men. Always big on promises with their “Christian” values coming up short by miles. It wasn’t what Jesus would do. It still isn’t.
And most likely the last ones raised in a true middle-class bubble. Skipping over the rift between the Boomers and the Zoomers, like Chinese jump rope. Arriving fashionably late to the party, middle finger at the ready, with our Walkman’s and 2nd Place Trophies in hand, like the forgotten middle child that is GenX. But hey, we don’t mind – we prefer the kid’s table. There are no Karens here (wrong gen, GenA) but we have quite a few Heathers and Brenda’s, so I wouldn’t recommend coming @ US. We’re a lil long in the tooth now but still have plenty o’ bite!
The GenX labels that stuck but don’t necessarily suck.
Latch Key Kids – Most of our parents were of the “ME Generation” aka Boomers – kind of says it all, huh. And with divorce rates skyrocketing and more women entering the work force than ever, we were raised by cable TV, Atari and a bunch of feral, hive minded peers. We didn’t ask to go it alone. We had to and we made do. Thank God for mac n cheese and ramen – what a glorious day it was when the microwave was invented!
Slackers – Forget the beef, where’s all the Jobs? Hey kids, just make sure you get a degree you can’t use in the job you hate. Indentured servitude with dwindling benefits on the corporate hamster wheel sounds like a great way to spend 40+ years. You’ll struggle to put food on the table or retire before the age of 75 paying back those student loans, but that’s how the world works. Sound familiar, GenZ? We weren’t buying it either.
Alternative – Besides the music we championed to the top of the charts, we’re otherwise known as inventors of .ComEVERYTHING. From analog to digital, our generation experienced more technological changes than any other. And invented a large portion of it because once again, there were NO jobs. We may not have experienced it at warp speed like our younger counterparts and might be slower to embrace some of those changes but given how we grew up, we have a more circumspect approach to it. It’s not use it or lose it for us – it’s use it but don’t get used by it. We can, we just don’t always want to.
Cynical and Difficult – There’s a reason our cynicism runs so deep. You want us to “INVEST” our hard-earned money on the very same CON that is the stock market so we might be able to retire if those same con men don’t steal it? And the social security we’re paying into year after year will be depleted so we can’t count on that either? Reganomics never “trickled down” past the 1%.
Outsiders – We are the Kuiper Belt of the generations. The desire not to be defined by and subscribe to whatever is trending today also hardwired in our DNA. Always on the fringe and flying under the radar.
Snarky and Rebellious – Yep! Add ambivalent towards an entire cultural system while you’re at it. Antagonistic or Contrarian – I pretty much proved that point with this post. And contrary to popular belief, GenX is also altruistic, empathetic, compassionate and loyal. If I do say so myself.
“There’s a weapon that we must use, in our defense.”* And it’s no longer SILENCE.
We might have been the first generation to feel disenfranchised by a broken system that only works for a select few, but we wouldn’t be the last. We watched how the entire AIDS pandemic unfolded. How a certain subculture was disenfranchised, ostracized and condemned, as if they deserved such a horrific fate. Their suffering only met with indifference, silence, fear and violence. Victims of spousal abuse and rape, immigrants leaving a war-torn country seeking solace and a safe place to raise their kids, the homeless and those suffering from mental illness can attest. So, what’s the common denominator? Spoiler alert, it’s not X.
The Untold Impact of AIDS on Generation X : Gen X Blog– A recommended read!
We ARE rebellious because the system is rigged. We HAD to be difficult to deal with the obstinance and the silence we were met with when we challenged the status quo or the injustices of the world we had no hand in building. Remember, you left us to our own devices, hoping we’d go quietly. Instead, we met every challenge with our resilience and our unconventionality. You told us we couldn’t, so we did. Every blockade was met with our ingenuity, our creativity, and our genuine desire to make a difference in the world.
The reason I started down this “Rosen Bridge” (rabbit hole if you will) with this is because my GenX hive turned 50. Almost 15 of us celebrated with a girl’s trip to the hot springs near South Park, Colorado. No drama, no real housewives of Boulder County, just a lot of wine and real talk about real LIFE! We know it’s rare that so many of us from High School still get together and still really love spending time with each other. Not everyone can say that. Maybe it’s all the years we trauma bonded over the state of the world we were growing up in. All the time we spent together forging our own paths, outside the blockades and arbitrary rules meant to keep us in line, meant to keep us pliant and silent.
Still refusing the blue pill, most became healers, mentors and volunteers. Fighting for education and health care. Still recycling even though large corporations and policy makers have taken us to the PNR. Caring for our aging and ailing parents, providing tech support and fighting the urge to “parental control” certain news outlets, knowing what will eventually be. Showing up for funerals and treatments, celebrations and goodbyes. And should we have the need, help moving the body. Some a lil reluctant, some all too willing. But the job will get done – Olan Mills Style, middle fingers held high!
So here we are, and our lips aren’t sealed anymore.
Happy 50th my GenXers! Be excellent to each other!
*Our lips are sealed – Lyrics written by Jane Wiedlin and Terry Hall. Performed by The Go-Go’s.
