Generation X?
What is “Generation X”
 Also known as the “Baby Bust”
 People born between 1964-1980
 These were children generally born to the pre-boomers
 Disaffectation with governance, a lack of trust in
leadership, particularly institutional leadership
Time Magazine Characterizes my
Generation
 . . .They possess only a hazy sense of their own identity but a monumental
preoccupation with all the problems the preceding generation will leave for
them to fix . . .This is the twenty-something generation, those 48 million young
Americans ages 18 through 29 who fall between the famous baby boomers and
the boomlet of children the baby boomers are producing. Since today's young
adults were born during a period when the U.S. birthrate decreased to half the
level of its postwar peak, in the wake of the great baby boom, they are
sometimes called the baby busters. By whatever name, so far they are an
unsung generation, hardly recognized as a social force or even noticed much at
all...By and large, the 18-to-29 group scornfully rejects the habits and values of
the baby boomers, viewing that group as self-centered, fickle and impractical.
While the baby boomers had a placid childhood in the 1950s, which helped
inspire them to start their revolution, today's twenty-something generation
grew up in a time of drugs, divorce and economic strain. . .They feel influenced
and changed by the social problems they see as their inheritance: racial strife,
homelessness, AIDS, fractured families and federal deficits
Howe and Strauss
 Influence that affected my generation:
 Disaffectation with governance, a lack of trust in leadership,
particularly institutional leadership
 Rampant political apathy
 Increase in divorce (institution of marriage)
 Increase in mothers in the workplace
 The zero population growth movement
 Availability of birth control pills ("Children were things you took pills
not to have")
 "Devil-child films"
 Increase in educational variance
 Decrease in educational funding and loan availability (simultaneous
with increase in advertising for military service)
 Inception of the Internet
 The end of the Cold War
Land of Confusion
 Are we confused? I don’t know, what did we have to
worry about in the 1980s?
 Check out the video and you tell me.
What were we scared of?
 On January 20, 1981, Reagan
takes office
 He believed the world was
potentially headed towards a
nuclear armageddon
 He believed the answer was
nuclear escalation and a new
technological project called SDI
or the Strategic Defence
Initiative (Star Wars)
 This project never really got off
the ground but it did upset the
Soviet Union
What Have We Witnessed?
 The end of the Cold War
AIDS
The 90s!
 The “Grunge” era enters the music world with bands
like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Sound Garden making it
big
 Nirvana blows the market wide open with their new
style and their dark messages
 Pearl Jam and other bands also reflect this message
What were they saying?
 Check out the Song Jeremy from Pearl Jam’s first
album Ten
 "Jeremy" is based on a true story. The song takes its
main inspiration from a newspaper article about a 15year-old boy named Jeremy Wade Delle, born
February 10, 1975, from Richardson, Texas who shot
himself in front of his English class in Richardson
High School on the morning of January 8, 1991 at
about 9:45 am.
 He was sent to the office to get a late slip, he came
back, pulled out a gun and blew his head off
Jeremy Lyrics
At home
Drawing pictures
Of mountain tops
With him on top
Lemon yellow sun
Arms raised in a V
Dead lay in pools of maroon below
Daddy didn't give attention
To the fact that mommy didn't care
King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world
Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
Clearly I remember
Clearly I remember
Pickin' on the boy
Seemed a harmless little fuck
But we unleashed a lion
Gnashed his teeth
And bit the recessed lady's breast
How could i forget
He hit me with a surprise left
My jaw left hurtin
Dropped wide open
Just like the day
Like the day i heard
Daddy didn't give affection
And the boy was something
mommy wouldn't wear
King jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world
Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
Try to forget this...
Try to erase this...
From the blackboard.
Review: Characteristics of Gen
X’ers
 A notable feature of Gen X is its high level of education.
 Due to this generation’s lack of faith in the
employer/employee commitment, Gen X is convinced real
job security lies in their ability to develop the knowledge
and skills to advance to their next job.
 First and foremost, they are individuals. When asked, most
do not view themselves as part of a group generation.
 Gen X has no distinct defining characteristic. If you need to
classify them as something, try a multicultural version of
“The Breakfast Club” – a small band of diverse individuals
that do not really fit in anywhere, not even with
themselves.
Characteristics Cont.
 They were the first generation to be brought up in an
“instant gratification” society full of microwaves, ATMs,
and remote controls. Gen X has the mentality of “what’s in
it for me.”
 They are cynical about the commitment between
employers and employees since they watched their parents
and grandparents lose their jobs after years of dedicated
service. They distrust corporations and hype. They distrust
government control of anything. Gen X is committed to
their professions instead of to a company.
 Gen X values work/life balance. They want their careers to
be exciting, as well as enjoyable, but they also expect to
have plenty of time for their families.