Why is it that advertisers, sociologists and all those type of people feel it nessesary to devide people up into little groups and then create a stereotype to define how each person in a certain group is going to think, act and feel? A perfect example is how all of us have been devided up into generations. If you are a man or woman born between 1946 and 1964 you are considered a "Baby Boomer". If you are a man or woman born between 1965 and 1977 (like me) you have the proud honor of being a memeber of "Generation X". And if you were born between 1978 and 1995 you are "Generation Y".

It wasn't until I was in college that I learned that I was a memeber of Generation X. I rememeber thinking to myself "Generation what?" I was reading an article in a magazine about Generation X. What was most ammusing about the entire article was that none of the labels given to Generation X applied to either me or my friends.

When did we all stop being people or humans?

When did we all stop being people or humans?

When someone got really bored (or high) and came up with this nifty classification idea!!

I'm a Y?? Hell, I have almost nothing in common with Y'ers. How much could I have in common with a 10 year old?

Why is it that advertisers, sociologists and all those type of people feel it nessesary to devide people up into little groups and then create a stereotype to define how each person in a certain group is going to think, act and feel? A perfect example is how all of us have been devided up into generations. If you are a man or woman born between 1946 and 1964 you are considered a "Baby Boomer". If you are a man or woman born between 1965 and 1977 (like me) you have the proud honor of being a memeber of "Generation X". And if you were born between 1978 and 1995 you are "Generation Y".

It wasn't until I was in college that I learned that I was a memeber of Generation X. I rememeber thinking to myself "Generation what?" I was reading an article in a magazine about Generation X. What was most ammusing about the entire article was that none of the labels given to Generation X applied to either me or my friends.

When did we all stop being people or humans?

I don't know... :rolleyes:

ohno:

Just out of curiousity, what are all of the traits that they say about Generation X and Y? I've never really heard it in detail before, and I'm curious to know what they have to say.

I actually think it's sort of silly, myself...to think that ALL of the people born within one time period are all supposedly alike. If that's true, then why do you find so many drastically different people in high school who are all your age?

When did we all stop being people or humans?when they tattooed that bar code on the back of our heads.

When someone got really bored (or high) and came up with this nifty classification idea!!

I'm a Y?? Hell, I have almost nothing in common with Y'ers. How much could I have in common with a 10 year old?
You're telling me.

I like to think I have more stuff in common with the 1984ers since, well, we're cool like that. :D :lol: And besides...We grew up in a different time period than the 10-year-olds today. We lived through stuff they didn't. We experienced things in our childhood that 10-year-olds will never get to experience, like how not everybody had a computer at home in the 80's and there was no such thing as kids owning cell phones. I'm not at all that much older but I find it insulting to be a Generation Y person. :mad:

I have no idea, I justed wanted to say your signature and avatar are great! :cool:

It's so weird to me to see people on S.O. that were born in 1992 :eek: I feel old now.

It's so weird to me to see people on S.O. that were born in 1992 :eek: I feel old now.

:lol: Join the club.

when they tattooed that bar code on the back of our heads.
They tattooed your bar code on?:eek:
They just rubber stamped mine on.
10 cents, phffft!;)

I'm not at all that much older but I find it insulting to be a Generation Y person. :mad:

Me too. Especially since for years, I thought I was X. Well, I'm double XX, but that's just a girl thing. :lol:

Until now, I coulda sworn I was generation X. Shows how much I know about that. I didn't really know they had stereotypes for each of these generations, either.

It's so weird to me to see people on S.O. that were born in 1992 :eek: I feel old now.

:lol: Wait until kids born in 1993 and 1994 start registering here. Egads! Scary...

Me too. Especially since for years, I thought I was X. Well, I'm double XX, but that's just a girl thing. :lol:

Me too, haha. I feel that people who were born between 1980 to 1985 should be in one group and the ones born between 1986 to 1989 be put in another group. The first one because we ACTUALLY REMEMBER the 80's and the last one because more than likely they don't. That has always bugged me. :lol:

:lol: Wait until kids born in 1993 and 1994 start registering here. Egads! Scary...



Me too, haha. I feel that people who were born between 1980 to 1985 should be in one group and the ones born between 1986 to 1989 be put in another group. The first one because we ACTUALLY REMEMBER the 80's and the last one because more than likely they don't. That has always bugged me. :lol:
That's true. I was born in 79, but don't remember the 70s for anything...those two months are just a HUGE blur. :lol:

:lol: Wait until kids born in 1993 and 1994 start registering here. Egads! Scary...



Me too, haha. I feel that people who were born between 1980 to 1985 should be in one group and the ones born between 1986 to 1989 be put in another group. The first one because we ACTUALLY REMEMBER the 80's and the last one because more than likely they don't. That has always bugged me. :lol:


Allison, I hope you don't take this the wrong way but you are certainly not Generation X. In a case like Cathy's, who was born in 1979, she would pretty much have the same views and feelings as members of Generation X though she is labled as Generation Y. As someone who was born in 1985 you really cannot remember much about the 1980's as a whole just as I can't remember much about the 70's except for a few things here and there. I think some of the qualifications of being an Gen Xer is being able to remember the destruction of the space shuttle in 1986 (sort of like all Baby Boomers remember where they were when JFK was shot), remembering Iran Contra, watching certain television shows (Family Ties for example) when they were in first run.

According to the article that I read back in college Generation Xers were born during a stretch of time when few babies were being born (1965-1977). I guess in 1978 there was a major increase in births. We were the first Generation to grow up with devorce being a normal way of life. We remember a president that people actually respected. The negative stereotypes concerning Xers is that we are suppose to have a negative outlook on life. We are supposed to lack focus and direction. We were accused of wasting our lives away watching rock videos and Beavis and Butthead. The whole Gen X label was meant to be a put down. We were supposed the be "the lost generation". I don't know what the lables put on Generation Y are.

I never even heard the term Generation X until the mid 1990's. :lol:

I never even heard the term Generation X until the mid 1990's. :lol:


Same here, Sonny! :lol:

e too, haha. I feel that people who were born between 1980 to 1985 should be in one group and the ones born between 1986 to 1989 be put in another group. The first one because we ACTUALLY REMEMBER the 80's and the last one because more than likely they don't. That has always bugged me. :lol:

Thank you very much, this member of the class of '86 VERY MUCH remembers the 80s.

And starting January 1, people [at least those who are honest about their age] who were born in 199-freakin-3 can register at SO - think about it, to people born after January 20, 1993 - there have only been two presidents in their lifetimes (Clinton and George W) - these were kids that were born AFTER Crystal Pepsi was discontinued...

And if those labels aren't enough to isolate the generations from one another, they've come up with another one in between the Baby Boomers and Gen X. Supposedly, those of us born between 1954 and 1965 are considered to be part of "Generation Jones" (http://www.generationjones.com/index_old.htm).

Since I don't think the traits of Generation Y were really specified here, I found a page where they're explained in depth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y

After looking through that whole thing, I can honestly say that it's a very accurate representation of not only myself, but the big majority of everybody I know who's around my own age.

Since I don't think the traits of Generation Y were really specified here, I found a page where they're explained in depth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y

After looking through that whole thing, I can honestly say that it's a very accurate representation of not only myself, but the big majority of everybody I know who's around my own age.


That is definately a good explanation of it...I never considered myself a "Generation Y" kid because, like the article said, I do remember a time where technology wasn't as important as it is with the Generation Y'ers...I also didn't get a computer until 1998, when I was 16...now computers are so common, that 7 year olds are starting to use them.

The late 1970s and early 1980s are among the most debated and stratified decades in determining the boundaries of Generations X and Y. Various sources have placed people born from 1977-1982 as being either the tail-end of Generation X or the elders of Generation Y. The majority of Generation X'ers, however, clearly do not believe that people born at the end of the 1970s belong in their generation, as these people would have been no older than elementary school children or in early adolescence (or, for the youngest, not even born) when the definitive rock bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam became popular in 1991.


I remember when they came out :confused:

Yeah, I'm sort of divided on that.

Like the fact that when I was a kid, it was still uncommon for people to have computers; Caller ID didn't exist yet; and I'm not sure, but I don't really even think cordless phones were very popular yet.

And that's so funny, we got our first computer in 1998, too!! I was 13.

But yeah, on the flip side of that, I don't remember stuff like Nirvana being popular and all of that. I mean, I guess I sort of vaguely remember them, but I was just too young to care.

Yeah, I'm sort of divided on that.

Like the fact that when I was a kid, it was still uncommon for people to have computers; Caller ID didn't exist yet; and I'm not sure, but I don't really even think cordless phones were very popular yet.

And that's so funny, we got our first computer in 1998, too!! I was 13.

But yeah, on the flip side of that, I don't remember stuff like Nirvana being popular and all of that. I mean, I guess I sort of vaguely remember them, but I was just too young to care.

Yeah, you're the same age as my brother and he would've been in 4th grade when Kurt Cobain died...I was in 6th and I can still remember the day it happened and how upset I was...I remember liking the band when "In Utero" was big, so that must've been 1993 or so.

Here's how I look at it....Do you remember when MTV actually played music videos? Good, then you're Gen X ;) :D

I can semi-remember it, but yeah, I was too young to really care about them at all. I really started to get into music and videos when I was around 8th grade, when Britney Spears came out.

I'm a Gen Y-er all the way.

Yeah, you're the same age as my brother and he would've been in 4th grade when Kurt Cobain died...I was in 6th and I can still remember the day it happened and how upset I was...I remember liking the band when "In Utero" was big, so that must've been 1993 or so.

Here's how I look at it....Do you remember when MTV actually played music videos? Good, then you're Gen X ;) :D
Kurt died on my brother's 14th birthday (4/5/94). :grr:

I remember a lot of the earlier music played on TV because I had two older sibs, and they watched MTV. I remember that when Beavis & Butthead debuted, was when that marked the beginning of the decline in playing music videos. Oh, and Beavis & Butthead were VERY controversial. Haha.

Kurt died on my brother's 14th birthday (4/5/94). :grr:

I remember a lot of the earlier music played on TV because I had two older sibs, and they watched MTV. I remember that when Beavis & Butthead debuted, was when that marked the beginning of the decline in playing music videos. Oh, and they were VERY controversial. Haha.

Yup :D Oh, and every pre-teen boy started to talk like them.

Yup :D Oh, and every pre-teen boy started to talk like them.
Yup. Beavis & Butthead corrupted us. :lol: But really, if you look at them today, they seem pretty tame in comparsion to what you would find on TV now.

Kurt died on my brother's 14th birthday (4/5/94). :grr:

I remember a lot of the earlier music played on TV because I had two older sibs, and they watched MTV. I remember that when Beavis & Butthead debuted, was when that marked the beginning of the decline in playing music videos. Oh, and Beavis & Butthead were VERY controversial. Haha.

I remember when Beavis & Butthead came out, I heard about it and the next thing I knew my dad was telling me my brothers and I couldn't watch it. I never had any intention too but when I was told I couldn't, I suddenly had the urge to see what it was all about. :lol:

i'm generation Y and half my friends are Baby Boomers

I remember when Beavis & Butthead came out, I heard about it and the next thing I knew my dad was telling me my brothers and I couldn't watch it. I never had any intention too but when I was told I couldn't, I suddenly had the urge to see what it was all about. :lol:
:lol: same thing happened to me.. i also remember when Daria first emerged, and when Care Bears was cancelled... i was devastated.

:lol: same thing happened to me.. i also remember when Daria first emerged, and when Care Bears was cancelled... i was devastated.

I remember Daria...I also remember the one day my brother and I spent all afternoon watching MTV because we wanted to see the music video for Hanson's Mmm Bop. :lol:

:lol: I remember defending my friend cause she liked Hansen to some bullies!

Various sources have placed people born from 1977-1982 as being either the tail-end of Generation X or the elders of Generation Y. The majority of Generation X'ers, however, clearly do not believe that people born at the end of the 1970s belong in their generation, as these people would have been no older than elementary school children or in early adolescence (or, for the youngest, not even born) when the definitive rock bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam became popular in 1991.

That's the biggest crock of crap...I'm not an X'er because of 2 bands. Bite me. Two bands hardly determine a generation.

Various sources have placed people born from 1977-1982 as being either the tail-end of Generation X or the elders of Generation Y. The majority of Generation X'ers, however, clearly do not believe that people born at the end of the 1970s belong in their generation, as these people would have been no older than elementary school children or in early adolescence (or, for the youngest, not even born) when the definitive rock bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam became popular in 1991.

That's the biggest crock of crap...I'm not an X'er because of 2 bands. Bite me. Two bands hardly determine a generation.



:rofl:

I thought Gen X went all the way to 1980 or even 1982. I definately consider myself an X-er more than a Y-er.

Various sources have placed people born from 1977-1982 as being either the tail-end of Generation X or the elders of Generation Y. The majority of Generation X'ers, however, clearly do not believe that people born at the end of the 1970s belong in their generation, as these people would have been no older than elementary school children or in early adolescence (or, for the youngest, not even born) when the definitive rock bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam became popular in 1991.

That's the biggest crock of crap...I'm not an X'er because of 2 bands. Bite me. Two bands hardly determine a generation.

I agree with that. I was in 6th grade when Nevermind exploded and was in high school during most of the popularity of alternative music, people my age were going to see Reality Bites and Singles even if we were a bit younger than the characters, I think Generation X ends sometime around 82 or 83, I have friends born in 1982 who were definately Gen X-ers IMO. Gen Y-ers IMO, are the ones who musically came up in the era of Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys and barely remember that television existed before Friends.

It's so weird to me to see people on S.O. that were born in 1992 :eek: I feel old now.

oh, I agree, it's always kinda surprising to see somebody born post-1989 who can actually talk in complete sentences because you'd think "born in 1992, must be in preschool now". Not a knock on younger posters, but it seems like it hasn't been so long since 1991 or 1992 that it's hard to believe that babies born then are teenagers today, where the hell has all the time gone?

That's true. I was born in 79, but don't remember the 70s for anything...those two months are just a HUGE blur. :lol:

exactly, I'm one month behind you and my earliest memories at all are 1981 at the earliest. I kinda remember my oldest brother crashing his motorcycle into a tree in the backyard and that was sometime that year, and I think that's the earliest thing I can remember.

But all in all, my siblings were much older than me (all of which are baby boomers, not older Gen X-ers) and my parents were "hip", so I remember a lot of the 1980's pop culture that a lot of kids my age might not. My sister who is 16 years older than me was prime for MTV when it first came out, and I remember her watching it all the time when I was little, and that was my exposure to Michael Jackson, Boy George, Cyndi Lauper, Prince, etc.... and others at a very young age. I tend to think of myself as a Gen-Xer even if I was born in the tail end of 1979 because I do remember a lot of the 80's stuff.

We were accused of wasting our lives away watching rock videos and Beavis and Butthead.

well, with all due respect. B&B premiered in 1993, which was when those of us born in 79 and 80 were starting out our teen years. It was huge with a lot of people in my grade, myself included.

I really started to get into music and videos when I was around 8th grade, when Britney Spears came out.

awwww, I'm really sorry. I grew up watching MTV from the 80's into the late 90's, it was around 97-98 when I finally "grew out" of MTV and stopped watching because the station it morphed into was a complete slap in the face to those of us who had watched it up until then. From the 80's up until 97 or so, MTV was a station centered around music. Even shows like Beavis & Butt-Head had a lot of videos on there, there were the exceptions of Real World and Road Rules, but it was two shows and MTV didn't play them out, yet nowadays MTV never plays music and even TRL (which is a music video countdown) shows 10 seconds of a video tops. It's really sad that todays youth will never know a Michael Jackson or a Madonna or a Nirvana, artists which not only sold records and got airplay, but that people grew up with watching on television. I think in a way that could explain the fascination of American Idol, that's the closest thing that todays audiences will know what it's like to actually find an artist you like and grow with them since MTV/VH1 no longer cares about the artist, just the cheesy reality show aspect these days.

Even as big a cultural impact that Kanye West has, none of his videos are as well-remembered because MTV never actually played them more than a few times. Back in the late 80's, a song that was #85 on the charts got more airtime than the #1 song in America gets these days on MTV/VH1. It's really sad, video may have killed the radio star, but reality killed the video star. One of the big explanations IMO for Mariah and Green Day's recent big comebacks is because they are artists that take us back to an era when the M in MTV actually meant something. All you have to do is look back at how a lot of us still cling onto our stars from the 80's and 90's, none of todays artists have the exposure that those who were big then got.

exactly, I'm one month behind you and my earliest memories at all are 1981 at the earliest.

I think my earliest was sometime in 83.

oh, I agree, it's always kinda surprising to see somebody born post-1989 who can actually talk in complete sentences because you'd think "born in 1992, must be in preschool now". Not a knock on younger posters, but it seems like it hasn't been so long since 1991 or 1992 that it's hard to believe that babies born then are teenagers today, where the hell has all the time gone?
Same here. 14 year olds just seem so young to me. :o

Gen Y-ers IMO, are the ones who musically came up in the era of Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys and barely remember that television existed before Friends.

That's a sad generation. :lol:

Just kidding to all you Y'ers.

Earliest memories...1989. A LOT of memories coming in around 1991-1992

Earliest memories...1989. A LOT of memories coming in around 1991-1992

ohhhhh... when you said "class of 86", I was assuming you were 37-38 and graduated high school in 1986 :lol:

Earliest memories...1989. A LOT of memories coming in around 1991-1992
2-3 seems like a common age to start remembering things.

2-3 seems like a common age to start remembering things.

yea, I have one vivid memory from 1981 and a couple from 1982 but suddenly everything seems to hit around 1983 for me. I admit though that I can get rather meloncholy and depressed if I dwell too much on those early years of my life (I'd say 1982 to 1986), because I was at my happiest, etc... I hate looking at pictures from my childhood because I honestly don't know that person. I wonder if a big reason I love a lot of the music, movies and television of my childhood is because it reminds me of those times.

yea, I have one vivid memory from 1981 and a couple from 1982 but suddenly everything seems to hit around 1983 for me. I admit though that I can get rather meloncholy and depressed if I dwell too much on those early years of my life (I'd say 1982 to 1986), because I was at my happiest, etc... I hate looking at pictures from my childhood because I honestly don't know that person. I wonder if a big reason I love a lot of the music, movies and television of my childhood is because it reminds me of those times.
Could be. I've felt that way on occasion. I hate looking at, like, yearbooks or old pics, because I either start regretting, or missing stuff. And I kind of feel detatched from that me of yesteryear too.

ohhhhh... when you said "class of 86", I was assuming you were 37-38 and graduated high school in 1986 :lol:

OH, and I just made the mental connection as to your old username...you know I could merge your old account into your new one, and/or change your username back to Buffyslayer, if you want

I couldn't stand B&B. My brother used to watch that and then he would go around making those stupid noises that B&B made. :lol:

"uh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh"
"yeah yeah huh huh huh huh"
":::warbled talking with food in mouth::: These nachos are good huh huh huh huh"
"yeah yeah, they rule they rule they rule they rule!!!!"

"uh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh"
"yeah yeah huh huh huh huh"
":::warbled talking with food in mouth::: These nachos are good huh huh huh huh"
"yeah yeah, they rule they rule they rule they rule!!!!"
:lol:

OH, and I just made the mental connection as to your old username...you know I could merge your old account into your new one, and/or change your username back to Buffyslayer, if you want

you can merge the accounts but I was ready to change the name from BuffySlayer79 anyways. Thanks

Thank you as well

I agree with that. I was in 6th grade when Nevermind exploded and was in high school during most of the popularity of alternative music, people my age were going to see Reality Bites and Singles even if we were a bit younger than the characters, I think Generation X ends sometime around 82 or 83, I have friends born in 1982 who were definately Gen X-ers IMO. Gen Y-ers IMO, are the ones who musically came up in the era of Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys and barely remember that television existed before Friends.

Thankfully the bold part doesn't apply to me. That was such a crappy time...Also the time of the HORRID fake 1970s revival...You know? Cheesy clothes, velvet pants, etc.? Okay, maybe not everybody did that...But apparently that was targeted to my age group at the time. I hang my head in shame to say I ACTUALLY fell victim to the scary 1970s revival at that time in the 90's. *shudder* Thank god that only lasted a year. I should have been slapped for that. :eek:

oh, I agree, it's always kinda surprising to see somebody born post-1989 who can actually talk in complete sentences because you'd think "born in 1992, must be in preschool now". Not a knock on younger posters, but it seems like it hasn't been so long since 1991 or 1992 that it's hard to believe that babies born then are teenagers today, where the hell has all the time gone?

Haha, no kidding. Feels like yesterday to me. I remember all of the 90's, and it scares me sometimes that kids born in '91 are in high school now. I mean, that was the year Michael Landon died. :( And within the next year, the kids born in '92 go to high school. Jebus...That was JUST yesterday. In the spring, my cousin who was born in '93 becomes a teen. Yikes. That simply cannot be possible. When I look at them, I see little babies or toddlers. :lol:

I think my earliest was sometime in 83.

My first one occurred on Christmas in 1986, and then everything started to click for me in 1987. '87 is when I started preschool (hearing impaired people in this state are required to start school from an early age), so yeah. I also remember a LOT of TV shows from that time period.

Could be. I've felt that way on occasion. I hate looking at, like, yearbooks or old pics, because I either start regretting, or missing stuff. And I kind of feel detatched from that me of yesteryear too.

Within the last year, I have started feeling the same way. In the spring, it will have been three years since I graduated from high school and I am amazed at how much I have grown/changed since I was in school. Sometimes I will start looking at pictures and then regret it after a while and experience the detached feeling too. :(

Haha, no kidding. Feels like yesterday to me. I remember all of the 90's, and it scares me sometimes that kids born in '91 are in high school now. I mean, that was the year Michael Landon died. :( And within the next year, the kids born in '92 go to high school. Jebus...That was JUST yesterday. In the spring, my cousin who was born in '93 becomes a teen. Yikes. That simply cannot be possible. When I look at them, I see little babies or toddlers. :lol:

the one that really got me was a year or so ago when there was a "post the #1 song the week you were born" and a lot of kids named off songs that were popular when I was in junior high, that was a real "oh crap, wheel me into a nursing home already" mood, lol

'87 is when I started preschool (hearing impaired people in this state are required to start school from an early age)

that is TOO DAMN YOUNG IMO. I understand that hearing impaired children demand a lot more attention in the classroom, especially at an early age, but regardless if one is deaf, blind or able to hear/see all, a two-year old brain cannot hold all the information meant for a 5 year old, same as if you tried teaching calculus to kindergarteners

Feels like yesterday to me. I remember all of the 90's, and it scares me sometimes that kids born in '91 are in high school now. I mean, that was the year Michael Landon died. :( And within the next year, the kids born in '92 go to high school. Jebus...That was JUST yesterday. In the spring, my cousin who was born in '93 becomes a teen. Yikes. That simply cannot be possible. When I look at them, I see little babies or toddlers. :lol:

Tell me about it

That's a sad generation. :lol:

Just kidding to all you Y'ers.

Sit on it, dawsongirl! :rotflmao:

PZELDA:

Thankfully the bold part doesn't apply to me. That was such a crappy time...Also the time of the HORRID fake 1970s revival...You know? Cheesy clothes, velvet pants, etc.? Okay, maybe not everybody did that...But apparently that was targeted to my age group at the time. I hang my head in shame to say I ACTUALLY fell victim to the scary 1970s revival at that time in the 90's. *shudder* Thank god that only lasted a year. I should have been slapped for that.


Hahaha, I totally remember that! It seems like every decade goes through the "20 years back" fashion syndrome. In the 70s, there was a huge 50's revival, in the 80's everyone began wearing "Dead-Head" 60's clothes, and the 90's had a 70's revival with fashion. I was in 8th grade when bell-bottoms became HUGE again. I remember wearing a pair of red velvet bell-bottoms that were from the 70s and a pair of PLAID bell-bottoms :lol:

the one that really got me was a year or so ago when there was a "post the #1 song the week you were born" and a lot of kids named off songs that were popular when I was in junior high, that was a real "oh crap, wheel me into a nursing home already" mood, lol



that is TOO DAMN YOUNG IMO. I understand that hearing impaired children demand a lot more attention in the classroom, especially at an early age, but regardless if one is deaf, blind or able to hear/see all, a two-year old brain cannot hold all the information meant for a 5 year old, same as if you tried teaching calculus to kindergarteners

Oh, I didn't go to preschool full-time that year. It was only part time...Like 3x a week. Sometimes I would go to a preschool, sometimes the teacher would come to my house. It was very basic stuff that year, to strengthen my vocabulary and to see if I could talk. It was a very new thing to my parents... they (as well as the teachers) thought I would be able to talk but unfortunately it didn't work very well. :( I started preschool full-time the following year (5x a week), in 1988.

Hahaha, I totally remember that! It seems like every decade goes through the "20 years back" fashion syndrome. In the 70s, there was a huge 50's revival, in the 80's everyone began wearing "Dead-Head" 60's clothes, and the 90's had a 70's revival with fashion. I was in 8th grade when bell-bottoms became HUGE again. I remember wearing a pair of red velvet bell-bottoms that were from the 70s and a pair of PLAID bell-bottoms :lol:

My mom and I were discussing 80's fashion a while back. Her mom (my maternal grandma) was a teenager and was in high school in the 1940s, so my grandma remembers the trends of that decade. Remember how popular shoulder pads were in the 80's? That was trendy in the 40's. So y'see, revivals don't have to be limited to 20 years...they can go as far back as 40 years. :D And I realized that was true...if you search for pictures of females from the 40's, you will see they also wore shoulder pads.

My mom and I were discussing 80's fashion a while back. Her mom (my maternal grandma) was a teenager and was in high school in the 1940s, so my grandma remembers the trends of that decade. Remember how popular shoulder pads were in the 80's? That was trendy in the 40's. So y'see, revivals don't have to be limited to 20 years...they can go as far back as 40 years. :D And I realized that was true...if you search for pictures of females from the 40's, you will see they also wore shoulder pads.

You're right...a lot of fads are simply recycled. Platform shoes (which are popular now and were very popular in the 70's) were worn in the 1800's (I could be wrong on that exact era but it was a long, long time ago :D )

I was born in 1984. So am I Generation X or am I Generation Y?:confused: ;)

I was born in 1984. So am I Generation X or am I Generation Y?:confused: ;)

I think people born in the first half of the 80's are whichever generation they want to be, I suppose you could say people born from 1981 to 1986 were Generation XY, lol

Could be. I've felt that way on occasion. I hate looking at, like, yearbooks or old pics, because I either start regretting, or missing stuff. And I kind of feel detatched from that me of yesteryear too.
Thats the same way I am. I hate looking at old pictures. I look at the person in the picture and wonder who he is. And then I start missing people that have died or that time of my life and it makes me sad.

Thats the same way I am. I hate looking at old pictures. I look at the person in the picture and wonder who he is. And then I start missing people that have died or that time of my life and it makes me sad.

It particularly stings when one has already lost two from a graduating class of 86 in just a year and a half.

In the spring, my cousin who was born in '93 becomes a teen. Yikes. That simply cannot be possible. When I look at them, I see little babies or toddlers. :lol:


My cousin (who was born in 88) is now 17 and almost out of HS. And I still look at her as this little kid who always used to bug me to play with her.

I wonder if I was sleeping thru a few years...:lol:

Sit on it, dawsongirl! :rotflmao:
*sits on it* :D ;)

I was born in Feb. 1979, and I've always considered myself a Gen Xer. I've never even heard of Generation Y. It seems to me like Gen X includes too many years. I don't know who comes up with this stuff, but there should probably be another category between Gen X & Gen Y for those of us born in the late 70's & early to mid 80's. I wasn't a teenager until the 90's, and I didn't touch a computer until 8th grade (I learned to type in 9th grade on a typewriter). I fondly remember life before DVD, CD, cell phones, caller id, a tv in every room, & the personal computer (and I'm not so sure we weren't better off without them). I vaguely remember the Challenger explosion, but I don't remember understanding it or being upset by it. Though I was a very sensitive child so my parents may have intentionally shielded me from the media during that time because they knew how sick I would make myself if I did understand exactly what happened. I remember having a headache and an upset stomach for two weeks once because I thought of the question, If God created everything then who created God. That is not a topic a first grader should be obsessing over. I can remember when Cabbage Patch Kids first came out, and I had to have one. I loved Strawberry Shortcake and the My Little Ponies. I remember when Barbie first got her pink molded plastic dream house, but we were poor so I got the particle board dream house (I never invited friends over because I thought they would all laugh at my Barbie Dream House, but my Barbie was happy there-I never had a Ken either because my Barbie was a feminist and she was capable of standing on her own two plastic feet). LMAO Man, I didn't realize it until just now, but I was a weird kid. All this nostalgia is depressing me. Despite being poor I had the most perfect childhood imaginable, and although my life is great now it never seems as sunny as my childhood when I'm reminsing.

Of course, if you're black, and you born between 1965 and 1977, your're not an Xer, you're in the "Hip-hop generation." Post-boomers are the first post-civil-rights-era generation,, yet we're segregated by demographers! :mad:

I think we post-Boomer honkies are called "Generation X" because X stands for the unknown in mathematics, and no one can f:censored:ing figure us out! :eek:

I know there's so many Generations this and that, it's confusing :eek: Now the current Generation is called Generation Me or something like that ohno:

Yeah my dad, aunts and uncles are baby boomers, they don't seem to mind being called that though.

awwww, I'm really sorry. I grew up watching MTV from the 80's into the late 90's, it was around 97-98 when I finally "grew out" of MTV and stopped watching because the station it morphed into was a complete slap in the face to those of us who had watched it up until then. From the 80's up until 97 or so, MTV was a station centered around music. Even shows like Beavis & Butt-Head had a lot of videos on there, there were the exceptions of Real World and Road Rules, but it was two shows and MTV didn't play them out, yet nowadays MTV never plays music and even TRL (which is a music video countdown) shows 10 seconds of a video tops. It's really sad that todays youth will never know a Michael Jackson or a Madonna or a Nirvana, artists which not only sold records and got airplay, but that people grew up with watching on television. I think in a way that could explain the fascination of American Idol, that's the closest thing that todays audiences will know what it's like to actually find an artist you like and grow with them since MTV/VH1 no longer cares about the artist, just the cheesy reality show aspect these days.

Even as big a cultural impact that Kanye West has, none of his videos are as well-remembered because MTV never actually played them more than a few times. Back in the late 80's, a song that was #85 on the charts got more airtime than the #1 song in America gets these days on MTV/VH1. It's really sad, video may have killed the radio star, but reality killed the video star. One of the big explanations IMO for Mariah and Green Day's recent big comebacks is because they are artists that take us back to an era when the M in MTV actually meant something. All you have to do is look back at how a lot of us still cling onto our stars from the 80's and 90's, none of todays artists have the exposure that those who were big then got.


I think we're close to the same age. I feel really old, there are people here on this board only born in 1992 :eek: Gosh I can remember the late 70's early 80's even though I was just about 5 years old around that time. I turned 16 in 1990, I can remember the debut of MTV and VH1 and remember when Madonna first hit it big on the radio, same with Whitney Houston.

I know there's so many Generations this and that, it's confusing :eek: Now the current Generation is called Generatiom Me or something like that ohno:


A brief rundown of the more recent generations in America:

The World War II Generation: This is the generation of Americans born between, say, 1908 and 1927, called the WWII generation because they all fought in it - or, in Ronald Reagan's case, served in a noncombat unit making WWII training films. Defeated fascism in Germany and military shoguns in Japan; still won't buy a Volkswagen or a Toyota. Felt their acheivements allowed them to wear polyester suits and white-leather shoes and drive cars with lots of chrome. Idolized Sinatra, thought Joey Bishop was funny.

The Depression Babies: So named because they were born and/or raised during the Depression, these folks were born between 1928 and 1945. Too young to be WWII generation members, too old to be baby boomers. They were Elvis Presley's original fans; idolized Ike and JFK, watched horror movies at the drive-in, feared nuclear war and Communists. Catholic Depression babies endured pre-Vatican II upbringing, still miss Pope John XXIII. The hipper Depression babies became the "Beat Generation;" embraced folk music and Allen Ginsberg, started the civil rights movement, probably joined the Peace Corps.

The Baby Boomers: The Baby Boom produced a bumper crop of kids born between 1946 and 1964. This is the generation that promised to change the world for the better, then voted for Reagan. Went to Woodstock, now go to craft fairs in Connecticut. Popularized foreign movies, then switched to boring bourgoeis movies starring Meg Ryan. Idolized the Beatles, the Stones, and Dylan, then invented disco. Think listening to "smooth jazz" makes them cool now. Went from cocaine to Rogaine, from Microbuses to Ford Expeditions. Won't eat any ice cream without a psuedo-Scandinavian name. Never forgave Yoko for the Beatles's breakup; never, ever will.

Generation X: My generation! We were born between 1965 and 1980, we're called Generation X because no one knows what we stand for. Least of all us. Idolized the Beatles, the Stones and Dylan - because we kept having Madonna, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, and MTV in general crammed down our throats in the 80's. Eventually got back at them with grunge. Rehabilitated the Carpenters. Graduated from college just in time to move back in with our parents because American companies don't pay living wages for entry-level jobs. Took us awhile to find entry-level jobs. Invented snowboarding. Cynical to the core about almost everything. We have an obsession for supermodels, ramen noodle soup, and comely actresses named Jennifer. Still trying to recover from our seventies childhoods, especially divorced parents and "Schoolhouse Rock." Gen-X elders include Charlie Sheen, Brooke Shields, and me. Conclusion: we're doomed. We loved Friends. We genuinely fear younger people. Never forgave Courtney for Kurt's death. Never, ever will.

The Milenials: So called because they were born or came of age at the turn of the millenium, they were born between 1981 and 2000. Sometimes called "echo boomers" because most of their parents are baby boomers. Spolied rotten by their parents. Love hip-hop, reality shows, and Paris Hilton. Gotta have the latest audio and computer technology. Idolizes Eminem. Takes orders easily. Regimented by their parents, play youth soccer in this football nation, take piano lessons in a country where real instruments are disappearing fast from pop. Drives Scions. Never saw a good movie. Repsonsible for the frightening quantity of teen and celebrity magazines. Has Generation X scared that they could be running the country one day - really. never forgave Britney for marrying Kevin. Never, ever will - even if they do split up.

Got it? :lol:

:eek: This thread has turned into a monster. :lol:

Generation X: My generation! We were born between 1965 and 1980, we're called Generation X because no one knows what we stand for.

We've also been called:

Post-boomers, because we followed the boomers.

Baby busters, because the birth rate plummeted between 1965 and 1980.

the Sesame Street generation, because we were the first generation to watch that show. It's the reason some of us still think of different colors, numbers and letters as having personalities. However, we never bought that bunk about white people, black people, Puerto Ricans, and furry puppets living together on the same urban block in relative harmony. Oh well, we still love Bob McGrath anyway.

Genreation 13, a double entendre: we were the thirteenth generation, according to demographers, born after the Delcartion of Independence was adopted, and, we've had a lot of bad luck: broken homes, economic dislocation, government programs one day going bankrupt on us, among other things. :( :mad:

The MTV generation, because we were the first generation to watch it. Well, it was something for me to do in the 10 PM hour, between favorite network shows and M*A*S*H reruns at 11:00.

Great musical events of each generation:

WWII generation: The Rat Pack Summit at the Sands, Las Vegas, 1960

Depression Babies: The annual Newport (R.I.) folk and jazz festivals

Baby Boomers: Monterey, 1967; Woodstock, 1969

Generation X: Live Aid, Philadelphia, 1985; Woodstock 25, 1994

Millenials: Uh, they haven't had any great musical events. Live 8 Philadelphia, 2005, is as close as they've come so far, but that was a pale imitation of Live Aid, which, now that I think about it, wasn't so great either. I mean, the Hooters played Live Aid! :eek: ohno:

I mean, the Hooters played Live Aid! :eek: ohno:

And we danced....

And we danced....
Like a Wave on the Ocean Romance...

The Milenials: Spolied rotten by their parents.
No

Love hip-hop, reality shows, and Paris Hilton.
No, NO, HELL NO

Gotta have the latest audio and computer technology.
Well, I've gotta give you that one. But there are definitely X'ers and Boomers that do too.

Idolizes Eminem.
You cannot be serious.

Takes orders easily.
You wanna try bossing ME around sometime?

Regimented by their parents,
Don't think so.

play youth soccer in this football nation,
No

take piano lessons in a country where real instruments are disappearing fast from pop.
It's a damned shame too.

Drives Scions.
I don't even know what a Scion is. I drive a used 1997 Ford Taurus that I didn't even get until three months ago.

Never saw a good movie.
I have...

Repsonsible for the frightening quantity of teen and celebrity magazines.
If I had anything to say about it, every one would be gone. Of course, you guys contributed a lot to this one too. :rolleyes:

Has Generation X scared that they could be running the country one day
Admit it, Gen X'ers...*I* wouldn't be so bad now, would I?

really. never forgave Britney for marrying Kevin. Never, ever will - even if they do split up.
1)Do I even care? 2)As long as she's happy, everything's fine with me

Got it? :lol:
Uh...No:lol:. Considering I only passed ONE standard for millenials (I hate that name), and THAT was the TECHNOLOGY one....No.

Besides, I think the response to the Hooters joke (redundant?) speaks for itself.

My understanding of the Echo Bomers is from a "60 Minutes" report on the subject, and if you can't trust Morely Safer, by gum, whom can you trust? :) :lol:

Generation X: born between 1965 and 1980. Idolized the Beatles, the Stones and Dylan - because we kept having Madonna, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, and MTV in general crammed down our throats in the 80's. Eventually got back at them with grunge. Rehabilitated the Carpenters. Graduated from college just in time to move back in with our parents because American companies don't pay living wages for entry-level jobs. Took us awhile to find entry-level jobs. Invented snowboarding. Cynical to the core about almost everything. We have an obsession for supermodels, ramen noodle soup, and comely actresses named Jennifer. Still trying to recover from our seventies childhoods, especially divorced parents and "Schoolhouse Rock." Conclusion: we're doomed. We loved Friends. We genuinely fear younger people. Never forgave Courtney for Kurt's death. Never, ever will.

I listen to all of them. And I never watched MTV.

Actually, I never really left my parents.

Hell yes...I couldn't get a damn entry level job to save my life.

Yeah, I'm pretty much cynical and untrusting.

Supermodels suck, don't obsess over <i>anyone</i> named Jennifer, but Ramen is pretty cool.

Didn't grow up in the 70s. Woo. But did watch my share of Schoolhouse Rock!

I hated Friends. Still do.

Some I do...teens like my cousin especially. So clueless...

I don't even remotely give a crap about Kurt Cobain.

These are all generalizations of generations, to be sure, but they more or less stick. Just as there are some Frenchmen who aren't rude, most people think of the nasty frog when they think of the average Frenchman. And while I'm sure there are some Germans with a sense of humor, when you think of the Fatherland, you conjure up the image of of the stern, humorless Kraut. But enough about the Pope (KIDDING!) - how about American history? Back during the Revolution, a third of the colonist supported the insurrection, another third remained loyal to the king, and the final third didn't give a damn one way or the other. Yet, go to eighteenth-century historic sites, and the tour guides will have you believe everyone in 1776 was waving the Stars and Stripes and singing "Yaknee Doodle."

Anyway, the same goes for generations. There are probably some WWII-era folks who didn't wear bad pants and like John Wayne movies, probably plenty of Depression babies who voted for Nixon in 1960 or preferred Pat Boone to Elvis, probably some Baby Boomers who supproted Vietnam, listened to Glen Campbell, and voted for George Wallace for President, and I'm sure there are Generation Xers who don't like flannel, ramen soup, or Jennfier Aniston - and Milenials who can't tell Hilary Duff from Hillary Clinton. Tough. There are stereotypes for each generation, and I just spelled them out in spades. Maybe you're not the typical Xer or Millenial, but there they are - the stereotypes. Get over it. Deal with them.

Deal with them.

Uh, no. (see, again, we're getting into that whole "taking orders" thing)

Uh, no. (see, again, we're getting into that whole "taking orders" thing)


Oh, come on now, Morley Safer reported that Millenials are used to being regimented and following instructions, nowe you're not going to spoil that stereotype for me, now, are you? :lol: