...

You could analyse this for eternity... there has to be a cut-off point somewhere. 67-79 sounds about right... those born in 1980 may dispute it, but then if you include them, the 81'ers will start complaining... and it'll be a vicious circle. It seems to me everyone wants to be Gen X at the moment. Just like people loved the 70's in the 90's and the 60's in the 80's. Okay the 90's were bad, but that's cos they were so recent. In the year 2050, the Gen Y'ers will be wishing it was 1995!

But really you are what you are. I hardly ever hear the term Gen X and Gen Y except for this forum, so it's no biggie.

i guess the real question is, what do generations x and y stand for? i think of tom brokaw's whole the-greatest-generation thing, the depression and wwii generation, and then the baby boomers who kinda represent a new era of prosperity in the 50s and 60s, and also were the generation that stopped the vietnam war. at least that's how a lot of people think of it.

so, as a gen-xer myself, i wonder what the gen-xers and y-ers stand for that's similar. it sorta seems like after vietnam and after the 70s, people don't really face the same challenges that they used to. there's the fall of the berlin wall, but people outside of russia and eastern europe aren't really thought of as being responsible for that. when i think about the 80s, 90s, and today -- the era that's defined us teens, 20- and 30-somethings -- there was no unifying cause on the level of the depression, wwii, or vietnam/the cold war to rally people around. and the labels really reflect that -- gen "x", where X is like a variable or a placeholder, not having the kind of meaning as "the wwii generation" or the "baby boomers" have, not really reflecting anything -- and then gen "y" is defined just as being next in the alphabet. (and i've seen it written as "generation why", which sorta makes the point too.)

um, know what i mean? what do gen x and y stand for? and if that's a harder question to ask than it is for the baby boomers and the wwii gen, why do you think that is?

You could analyse this for eternity... there has to be a cut-off point somewhere. 67-79 sounds about right... those born in 1980 may dispute it, but then if you include them, the 81'ers will start complaining... and it'll be a vicious circle. It seems to me everyone wants to be Gen X at the moment.

At the moment, and only at the moment.

I've always thought that "Generation X" was a condescending and insulting label put upon my people my age by the media, which is currently controlled by members of the "baby boom" generation, who act as if they are the only generation in history who ever did anything that mattered. They took great pleasure in looking down their noses at us and calling us "slackers" and

^good points.

To be honest I wish that the whole concept of generations outside of the family sense didn't exist, rather our birthyears should really the only thing to pinpoint us in time. But since others have decided that it does I would have to say my generation, (whatever you name it) runs from 1965-1985 for several factual reasons. I'm getting to believe that the terms Y and X are waves of one generation rather than two seperate ones. Whether they're compaired for their similarities or differences, Gen Y and Gen X are almost always paired up in any study or report.

Finally I believe the reason why the term Gen X continues to be popular is that it has become the dominate or "go to" term for the post Boomer generations, despite all the prediction a few years ago about Xrs were soon to be forgotten. Heck, there are even teens and children who are labled Xrs. Since 2004 I've also noticed how popular the term is in marketing if you notice all the items and programs with either the word Xtreme, Xtra, or having a prominate X in the name.


Gen Y may actually be more late Gen Xers then, the way there are late Boomers born from 1955 to 1964 that are quite different from the stereotypical born in 1945 (like Bill Clinton) Baby Boomer. 

There are noticeable differences between early Xers and late Xers.  The earlier part of Gen X born in the 60s and early 70s seem to always have much more of a loathing to the Baby Boomers then the rest of Gen X-Y.  I'm not sure why that is, but I suppose it is because they were old enough to be young adults who competed for jobs with the Boomers back in the late 80s and early 90s.  The early Xers still seem to carry that heavy Boomer resentment with them.  Compare someone born in 1968 to someone born in 1978, you will see a difference in thought there.  Then ofcourse there is the whole pop culture issue and what you grew up with.  Where you around for the 70s?  Can you remember the 80s?  Hell can you remember the first half of the 90s?  What was cool in 1986 vs. what was cool in 1996 vs. what is cool in 2005/'06....etc, etc, etc, etc....     

I'll add this...I guess Gen X is still young enough to be cool just because even though so many of us are over 25 and/or in our 30s...we are not yet totally "the establishment" yet.  The Baby Boomers still seem to be the establishment and many Xers are bitching about them like it's still 1993.  Once your generation becomes the establishment...thats when you know you've gone beyond the point of no return and are not cool.



but that's right around the corner...it won't be too long before you see kids born in 1999 saying, "damn that generation born in the 70s, they screwed up everything for us"

As for the divide of our generation I think there are several major differences between the earlier and the later, or as I like to think the 80's and 90's waves. The first ( like my older brother) experienced childhood in the 70's and came of age during the 80's- aka "Bratpackers". They generally had parents from the "Beat" generation (Think Fonzzie from "Happy Days")



I guess I'd fit in with this description.  Although I'm not sure my dad was allowed to wear a leather jacket  ;)

^Yes, I too have an older sister and several older cousins who are what I call "older Gen Xers"....they were born from around 1965 to 1971/'72 or so.

^ Good thinking, Chris. I like what you've got to say - as usual I mostly agree with you here too (this has been a very interesting thread, btw). :)

The "Early Gen X-er" I won't argue with you on at all. I might say a born in 1963 or 64 person would be close enough to squeak by though. The gang from Fast Times at Ridgemont High would've been about this age. This was more the "very erly 80's" teens. Someone born in 1968-71 is more of a "Brat Pack"er.

It's the other two you outlined that are a bit harder to define, IMO:

Like I always say, everyone is different, but I'd sat the TYPICAL born in 1977 and born in 1978 person is where the split between "Middle Gen Xer" and "Late Gen Xer" would be. A 77-er seems alot more old-school, IMO.

All the '77 born people I know (or know of) all like the 80's or at least remember quite a bit from the decade. Even if the Grunge/coffeehouse/Beverly Hills 90210 era was more the center of "their" time, there's a good chance they're also into John Hughes movies and Van Halen too.

I've actually have three different friends born in 1978 who I can base this off of. They seem different from the typical 77-ers. Although they know alot about the 80's, they also tended to kinda laugh at me when I brought it up, for it being "old" - and were fans of gangsta rap, for instance.

As for the "Late Xer" phase, this is even more "depending on the person". I know people born in 1987 who love the 80's and people born in 1979 who think they're stupid -- but I would go so far as to put that into two mini categories of its own.

A born in 1978 or 79 person is more likely to laugh at the 80's because it's too "cheesy" compared to the Grunge era. A born in 1985 person is more likely to laugh at the 80's because they don't remember it so well.

Overall, how does this sound?

Early Gen Xer: Born 1964-71
Middle Gen Xer: Born 1972-77
Late Gen Xer: (Part 1) Born 1979-81, (Part 2), Born 1982-85

Marty's slight changes are probably more accurate... agree with your views. I know people  2years younger than me who aren't on the same nostalgic level as me at all.

Either way I love being a Middle Gen-Xer! It's a nice halfway point.

From my experience I believe trying to measure what is a generation by pop culture is rather impossible and has caused a lot of confusion and argument on this topic. Generation's are simply too unwieldy to be defined this way due to their sheer span of years.
Instead waves or cusp are better units of measurement.

^ Good thinking, Chris. I like what you've got to say - as usual I mostly agree with you here too (this has been a very interesting thread, btw). :)

The "Early Gen X-er" I won't argue with you on at all. I might say a born in 1963 or 64 person would be close enough to squeak by though. The gang from Fast Times at Ridgemont High would've been about this age. This was more the "very erly 80's" teens. Someone born in 1968-71 is more of a "Brat Pack"er.

It's the other two you outlined that are a bit harder to define, IMO:

Like I always say, everyone is different, but I'd sat the TYPICAL born in 1977 and born in 1978 person is where the split between "Middle Gen Xer" and "Late Gen Xer" would be. A 77-er seems alot more old-school, IMO.

All the '77 born people I know (or know of) all like the 80's or at least remember quite a bit from the decade. Even if the Grunge/coffeehouse/Beverly Hills 90210 era was more the center of "their" time, there's a good chance they're also into John Hughes movies and Van Halen too.

I've actually have three different friends born in 1978 who I can base this off of. They seem different from the typical 77-ers. Although they know alot about the 80's, they also tended to kinda laugh at me when I brought it up, for it being "old" - and were fans of gangsta rap, for instance.

As for the "Late Xer" phase, this is even more "depending on the person". I know people born in 1987 who love the 80's and people born in 1979 who think they're stupid -- but I would go so far as to put that into two mini categories of its own.

A born in 1978 or 79 person is more likely to laugh at the 80's because it's too "cheesy" compared to the Grunge era. A born in 1985 person is more likely to laugh at the 80's because they don't remember it so well.

Overall, how does this sound?

Early Gen Xer: Born 1964-71
Middle Gen Xer: Born 1972-77
Late Gen Xer: (Part 1) Born 1979-81, (Part 2), Born 1982-85


You know what, you might actually be right.

I know two 78rs who would be very happy to see that others agree with them. Interestingly it seems that those born in 78 desire to have more distance from us than those born after, especially 79rs that I know.

Personally I have come to posistion that social generations really don't exist. Instead I see each birthyear as a link in a chain, where we experience life in our little spot along the line. I have as much in common (or not in common) with someone born in 78 as I do in 74. If I entered middleagedom in the mid 90's when I was still 19, then what right do I have even have being on this board talking about culture and society? And is it fair that someone only 2 years younger gets to be young and claim the entire period from 1995 -2018 as their own?

That why I don't see generations as real anymore. While an "age block" might perfectly describe someone in the middle of it, it gets hard to define on it's edges because in reality we all have our own unique posistion in time.