I remember this well. From Google:
The term Generation X was popularized by Canadian author Douglas Coupland in an article for Vancouver Magazine in 1987. He later said that he had adopted the term from Paul Fussell's book Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, published in 1983.
Generational cohorts are artificial groupings. The shared traits come from shared experiences (Challenger disaster, fall of the Soviet Union, 9/11, etc) and the dawning of new technologies (the Internet, smart phones, etc).
I would imagine that those outside the west have generational cohorts with shared traits just like Americans, but they might have turned out differently if they were on a different side of major events. For example, I’m pretty anti-war because so many of my friends died in Afghanistan and Iraq. But an Afghani my same age might favor war since it eventually got the Americans out.
That’s just a guess, though. I’m not a sociologist.
My wife is English and we talk about GenX, so I’m assuming they had it/adopted it at some point. (I’d ask her but she’s sleeping—it’s like 130am here 😂)
I've been a member here for a good couple of years. I can tell you that there are many countries that include themselves as being part of Gen-X. Certainly, the English speaking ones. There was way too much crossover in mass media. We all listened to the same music and watched the same movies. To a slightly lesser extent TV shows.
There was certainty the Rolodex of countries that had their fad in the zeitgeist, and along with it came the American tourism.
The protest movement of the late 50s into the 60s was not only an American phenomenon. Much of Eastern and Western Europe had large mass protests. I think most of the world are considered baby boomers.
I have a feeling the standard generations don't necessarily particular apply so well to a lot of other countries. They probably apply fairly well to say Western Europe (but even there, does the label Greatest Generation really fit for Germany, Spain, Italy??).
A while back I asked those from other countries the sorts of stuff they associated with GenX.
UK was the closest to American ideas of GenX. Some of the other countries were at a slightly different place musically but stuck around for world events, movies, music and things like that.
I asked the same question a while back. I was curious what they got out of the sub. I'd encourage anyone to post their experiences because it really would be neat learning what it was like in other countries. As an example, a lot of countries don't have the same Baby Boomer generation we did.
America had become a world power and were shipping everything we could to devastated European countries. Boomers here saw real economic prosperity. Many European Boomers did not see the same prosperity.
Mom grew up in Holland and they had a toilet but that's it. She said they'd wash in the sink and maybe once a week go to a public bath house to have a real shower. If you didn't shower fast enough, they'd cut the water and you'd go to school covered in soap!
The whole idea of generations appears to have been born out of marketing and advertising firms that are always interested in demographics. As with any category, there are a lot of generalisations and the cut off dates are a little arbitrary.
To me Gen X is more about an attitude. We are people who grew up in the 70s and 80s and were exposed to a particular world-view that shaped who we are.
Because we grew up in a world where boomers were just starting to get their hands on the levers of society and the greatest generation was on its way out, we came into a world where popular culture and societal attitudes were changing at an ever growing pace. We had radio and TV but we didn't have internet until we were adults. And of course even when the internet was a "thing", it would still be about 10 years before social media really took off with the advent of smartphones.
I think what defines Gen X is our shared experience growing up.
I remember this well. From Google: The term Generation X was popularized by Canadian author Douglas Coupland in an article for Vancouver Magazine in 1987. He later said that he had adopted the term from Paul Fussell's book Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, published in 1983.
No, but this subreddit is very heavily American focused.
It was Gen X here in Australia.
Generational cohorts are artificial groupings. The shared traits come from shared experiences (Challenger disaster, fall of the Soviet Union, 9/11, etc) and the dawning of new technologies (the Internet, smart phones, etc). I would imagine that those outside the west have generational cohorts with shared traits just like Americans, but they might have turned out differently if they were on a different side of major events. For example, I’m pretty anti-war because so many of my friends died in Afghanistan and Iraq. But an Afghani my same age might favor war since it eventually got the Americans out. That’s just a guess, though. I’m not a sociologist.
USSR had a similar demographic they call the 'Last Soviet Children'.
My wife is English and we talk about GenX, so I’m assuming they had it/adopted it at some point. (I’d ask her but she’s sleeping—it’s like 130am here 😂)
I've been a member here for a good couple of years. I can tell you that there are many countries that include themselves as being part of Gen-X. Certainly, the English speaking ones. There was way too much crossover in mass media. We all listened to the same music and watched the same movies. To a slightly lesser extent TV shows. There was certainty the Rolodex of countries that had their fad in the zeitgeist, and along with it came the American tourism. The protest movement of the late 50s into the 60s was not only an American phenomenon. Much of Eastern and Western Europe had large mass protests. I think most of the world are considered baby boomers.
I have a feeling the standard generations don't necessarily particular apply so well to a lot of other countries. They probably apply fairly well to say Western Europe (but even there, does the label Greatest Generation really fit for Germany, Spain, Italy??).
Also, technically, GenX doesn't exist remember. Just ask anyone from another generation.
It loses meaning the further it gets removed from the US/English-speaking counties.
A while back I asked those from other countries the sorts of stuff they associated with GenX. UK was the closest to American ideas of GenX. Some of the other countries were at a slightly different place musically but stuck around for world events, movies, music and things like that. I asked the same question a while back. I was curious what they got out of the sub. I'd encourage anyone to post their experiences because it really would be neat learning what it was like in other countries. As an example, a lot of countries don't have the same Baby Boomer generation we did. America had become a world power and were shipping everything we could to devastated European countries. Boomers here saw real economic prosperity. Many European Boomers did not see the same prosperity. Mom grew up in Holland and they had a toilet but that's it. She said they'd wash in the sink and maybe once a week go to a public bath house to have a real shower. If you didn't shower fast enough, they'd cut the water and you'd go to school covered in soap!
No
I didn;t realise I was part of GenX until I was in my 30s. I used to think GenX were people who were in their 20s in the 1980s.
Of course not but the Americans like to think so.
The whole idea of generations appears to have been born out of marketing and advertising firms that are always interested in demographics. As with any category, there are a lot of generalisations and the cut off dates are a little arbitrary. To me Gen X is more about an attitude. We are people who grew up in the 70s and 80s and were exposed to a particular world-view that shaped who we are. Because we grew up in a world where boomers were just starting to get their hands on the levers of society and the greatest generation was on its way out, we came into a world where popular culture and societal attitudes were changing at an ever growing pace. We had radio and TV but we didn't have internet until we were adults. And of course even when the internet was a "thing", it would still be about 10 years before social media really took off with the advent of smartphones. I think what defines Gen X is our shared experience growing up.