Hey,

Can someone please help me define what exactly "Generation X" is? I have been told that it is people born between 1961 and 1981. I have also heard that Gen-Xers are lazy slackers, and hold no future for America. Seems as if they are looked down upon. If someone could please help me understand Generation X, I would appreciate it. I was born in 1980, so I guess that would make me a Gen-Xer, but what does it mean?? Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Jessica. E-mail: DICE538@aol.com

hi everybody. i am afraid the big picture is not being looked at here. how can lionel's definition (those born between 1965-1970) of generation x be true? a generation (as in the context of "generation x") is not only 5 years long!!!!!! i think that the confusion might have arose from the fact that the CORE group of genx was born around 1972 (about the miway point between 1964-1981 which is the genx birth bracket) these Xers WOULD be in thier teens in the 80s but that doesn't mean that we all were. historians have determined that "generations" are about 15-20 years long. it has been widely accepted that 17 years would be settled on since 17.5 is exactly between 15 and 20. also it just so happens that these age brackets fit very well to describe those that are bonded by certain attitudes and political, pop cultural and technological world/national events.

well here are the WELL DOCUMENTED age brackets of the 7 generations alive today (along with a brief note of on some of the things that come to mind when i think of what belongs to that generation)

1.WWI generation-(born 1892-1909)-these are the "flappers" of the 20s.popolulr fashion:long waisted dresses, short crimped hair(marceling) popular music: jazz, popular dance: the charleston felt the brunt of the "great depression"(which comenced in 1929 and lasted world wide thru most of the 30s.)

2.WWII generation-(born 1910-1927)also felt the sting of the great depression in a big way.also, a huge percentage of its young men were in world war II, while the young women were at home working,often times taking the place of the mens jobs in factories,the military(many typed those dreaded "western union telegrams"or built planes, tanks etc..("rosie the riveter") among numerous other jobs to support thier families, while "our boys" (who would almost always have been the breadwinner under normal circumstances) were away.popular music/dance:big bands(glen miller),swing dance, radio shows,presidents:FDR, trumen

3.Silent generation-(born 1928-1945)too young to be working during the depresion or to go to either of the world wars.however many of its core group did go off to the korean war(1950-1955)-this is the group that shows like "happy days" were based on due thier inocence as a group, styles:capri pants, poodle skirts,saddle shoes,varisty jackets, leather jackets + tee shirts w/ciggarete pack roled in the sleve (for the fonzie type),crewcuts etc. hangouts:sock hops,diners,pharmacy ice cream shops,drive-in movies,"loverslane" type places etc.big music:elvis,buddy holly, johney mathis,chuck barry. big dance:the bop. also big at the time(50s) the less prominent "beat movement" which burst onto the american scene in 1956 w/jack kerouac's on the road(the adventures of the original social dropout)(other leaders: william s.burroughs,allen ginsberg)influenced by eastern religions eg:zen buddism,the movement was a protest against the complacent middle-class culture.

4.babyboom generation(born 1946-1963)-when WWII ended in aug.1945 the vets came home to their wives and by 1946 the baby boom was born.during this time frame their was a STEEP increase in births (76 MILLION were born!!!!)because they are such a HUGE percentage(nearly 1/3) of the population the country has pretty much revolved around them ever since-they(the core group) enjoyed the fun and innocence of a 50s childhood followed by the ultimate teenage rebellion of the 60s, in thier 20s they enjoyed the one big party that was the 70s,in their 30s they decided to settle down and make big money on wall street so this was the focus of the 80s,in the 90s/now they cracked down on everything they enjoyed as youths because now THIER kids were getting a little older,and they have the whole country talking about retirement packages. big events:vietnam,woodstock,hippie movement-late60s early70s youknow:make-love-not-war,peace signs,frequent use of illegal drugs,free love,long hair,flower children,living in communes,PROTESTING etc.etc.......i dont think its nessasary to descibre thier music/fashion i mean they dominate our culture-we all know about hippies and classic rock.......

4.generation X-(born 1964-1981)-the "forgotten generation" that imediately follows the boom generation, they have gotten the brunt of the effects of our boomer dominated culture,in the 70s the birthrate dropped significantly("genX is the first generation women took pills not to have) the resulting uneven age distrubution has had a multitude of social effects on educational systems,job markets,economy,and so on including almost every aspect of contemporary life.the boomers broke down the countrys moral, educational, disiplinary, and religious standards leaving genX kids with nothing solid to cling to growing up.as adults Xers try to cling to gangs or a tight knit group of friends, explore diffenent orginized religions,join self help groups etc to fill this void. a huge amount of Xers come from broken homes,so feel very strongly about making a marriage work(cause they dont want it to be like it was when they were kids) but at the same time have a fear of commitment(because of the way it was when they were kids), many grew up w/out a father so alot of genX guys have a little bit of a tough guy complex- girls too tend to be a little sensitive from lack of a dad, or from W/a working single parent making them "latchkey kids",they more than any generation before them were raised by the t.v., have become very jaded and skeptical of advertising,also because they have seen so many polital figures fall and become tabloid fodder,they dont have respect the government very much either,Xers pretty much expect empty promises from the media,you cant fool'em.alot of Xers hold some resentment for boomers because "they had all the fun,cheap rents,free love and free rides and we get stuck with the bill" a much higher % of Xer wages are deducted for social security tax to pay for the now retiring boomers but it has been hypothisied that there wont even be enough in the social security budget to pay for Xer retirement after the boomers are done with it,they had: free love: we get:save sex(AIDS broke out just when xers started getting intrested) they had:cheap easy to get,barely prosecuted,drugs we get:just say no!and "the war in drugs"(and again the risk of AIDS) the boomers are a tough act to follow, they have a movement: it soars to worldwide proportions and gets headline coverage for years s when we try to have a movement: it gets laughed at,turned into a target for advertisers and erased, Xers(as a generation) feel "lost" they are not sure of their generaional because they have how "cool" the60s/70s were shoved in their face since they can remember so sometimes in the back of thier minds they feel like w/out a similar accomplishment as a group they cannot have a fufilling youth but sometimes feel like rebeling against the whole rebeling thing and they try to install some good old fashion values back into thier lives because they long for the structure that they didnt have growing up hence,many are torn feeling pulled in both of these directions at times....genX is the most individualistic generation they do not want to be pigeon holed or labled, they have the most diverse range of popcultural tastes of any gen. alive today:thier musical tastes for example range from kiss-duran duran-madonna-new wave-metallica-def leopard-punk rock-nirvana-rap-alternative-r&b,i could go on+on,there are so many, but these are all very genX! movies: we all love stuff like star wars, the breakfast club,heathers,ferris bueller etc, some other good portraits of us: clerks, SFW, singles,friday etc... our fashions are as diverse as our music.....ps.one more thing that unites Xers- the late 80s recession

6.millenial(genY)-(born 1982-1999)-honestly i dont know too much about these kids/teenagers. as far as i can tell they dont feel the effects of the boomer dominate culture the way Xers do because i think genX was kind of a buffer...they are growing up with the internet+the most rapiddly growing technology ever (many are starting as young as preschool to use the computer+i know some 8 yr olds that can type 60 words a minute!)more trusting,more comfortable with religion,their families are doing very well econmically due to the current economy boom,teens like to go to raves and do designer/nonhardcore drugs like xtc and they dont seem to have as many seperate subgroups as we have (so far)for instance there doen't seem to be as much of a line between rap,hard rock,and alternative anymore for ex:they listen to music like:korn,limp bisket,kid rock,eminem etc but there is probobly a line between these and the teen pop like backstreet boys,'n'sync, and britney spears but i not really sure,fashion-all i've really noticed is a prevalence of big pants and t-shirts w/a big stripe across the chest(well i tryed genYers, like i said, i dont know much about you guys, if you have anything to add please post a message and help me w/this description!)

well everyone, i hope this helps!

girl79

hi, just realized how long my last message was and the fact that i messed up the numbers(wrote 4twice) + i forgot the 7th one! so i decided to just write a list in case anyone doesnt want to read my way-too-long previous message!

*the 7 generations alive today*

1.WWI-(born 1892-1909)

2.WWII-(born 1910-1927)

3.silent-(born 1928-1945)

4.babyboomers(born 1946-1963)

5.genX-(born 1964-1981)

6.millenial(Y)-(born 1982-1999)

7.???(timewilltell)-(born 2000-2017?)

okay!i'm really done now,i swear!bye!-

girl79