Generation (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what generation X is, its characteristics and what historical events they experienced. Also, how are they different from millennials.

A photograph from the 1990s shows a group of students. — Generation X considers itself independent and capable of facing adversity.

What is generation X?

Generation demographic group born between approximately 1960 and 1980 according to Anglo-Saxon terminology. Gene X is among the baby boomers and Generation Y, also known as the millennial generation (a term preferred to the English word millennial).

The term generation In fact, the term was coined by the Hungarian photographer Robert Capa (1913-1954), who used it in the 1950s as the title of a photographic work about young people born after the Second World War.

It was also used by journalists Jane Deverson and Charles Hamblett to give the title to their 1965 book about British youth and popular culture, and by musician Billy Idol for his own punk band in 1976.

In 1991 the term gained its generational value, after the publication of Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (“Generation X: Stories for an Accelerated Generation”), a novel by Canadian Douglas Coupland. Over the decades, however, Generation disaffection that was attributed to them for years.

As with other demographic terminologies, the category of “generation may not be universally valid or accepted, since it arises from the historical and population experience of Anglo-Saxon culture (Great Britain and the United States). Even so, it is usually considered a useful indicator to differentiate and classify those born from the middle of the 20th century (mainly the 60s and 70s).

Characteristics of generation

Actor Robert Downey Jr, belonging to generation x, smiles in the city of Moscow. — Generation X was the protagonist of the great changes in fashion and gender roles.

Although any generational description should be taken as a very broad approximation or trend, generation X is usually thought of in the following general terms:

Includes those born between 1960 or 1965 and 1980 or 1985. These date ranges are always approximate. In any case, they are usually children of members of the silent generation and/or of baby boomersand parents of millennials and/or centennials (a term preferred to Anglicism centennials).
It covers 18.2% of current humanity approximately. Their age range at the beginning of the 21st century is between 40 and 60 years old.
It was a generation that lived a time of great changes in the world and a notable decline in birth rates (which recovered from the 1980s). For this reason, other authors prefer to consider them as “late boomers” between 1960 and 1966, and as “bursters” between 1967 and 1979.
It was the first generation whose fathers and mothers divorced and/or led an active working life, following the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, so they often spent a lot of time alone at home, without the constant presence of an adult. For this reason they are considered a very independent generation, capable of maintaining a good relationship between work and personal life.
have a much greater ethical diversity than their predecessors generally conservative. Generation
faced serious economic difficulties in childhood and early adulthood which is why they are also considered a skilled generation with many resources to face adversity.
were the first to grow up with fax machines and computers at home, that is, they are the first generation of the digital and computer revolution.

Differences between generation X and millennials

Generation X is often considered a transition generation between baby boomers and millennials, given that individuals of this generation tend to have common traits with each other depending on their time of birth. Still, some of the main differences between Gen X and millennials have to do with:

Your position on technology. Gen X was the first generation of the technological revolution and the last (along with the first millennials) to grow up in a world without the internet. This means that the presence of the network and telecommunications is taken for granted by millennials, who always prefer to carry out their activities on-line. In fact, millennials were the first to make social relationships through the Internet, something that was much less common for Gen X.
Your commitment to education. Gen Millennials, on the other hand, inherited a labor market in full transition towards digital, and with this a series of uncertainties and changing needs that traditional education could barely deal with. In that sense, millennials are more prone to entrepreneurship and informality, and less likely to depend on their studies for work, especially those born towards the end of the generation.
Your desire for mobility. Gen Millennials, on the other hand, witnessed the birth of digital nomads and remote work, as well as the collapse of traditional work expectations in the early 2000s. That is why many “millennials” chose freer and more unorthodox employment models, valuing the freedom and comfort over long-term achievements.
Your political preferences. Gen This distinction is mainly felt in the election between large and traditional parties, versus young and minority parties, on both sides of the political spectrum.

Important events that generation X experienced

A late twentieth century computer was common in Generation X homes. — Generation X was the first in history to have computers at home.

Generation X witnessed important historical events during their youth and early adulthood, such as the following:

The French May (1968). The protests and strikes that shook France and the West in 1968 are considered in France to be the starting point of Generation liberal and optimistic, and this promise is very important to understand the world in which generation X grew up.
The Vietnam War (1955-1978). The most famous and disastrous of the West's interventions in Asia during the 20th century was the Vietnam War, fought first by France and then by the United States. During this long conflict that claimed countless lives, Western youth and especially American youth assumed a combative attitude and continually confronted the authorities, demanding an end to the war. The hippies They were the great protagonists of this movement.
The arrival of humans to the Moon (1969). The childhood of Generation of the Moon, where they carried out a lunar walk. This event marked the imagination of the generation, which not in vain would be the great creator and consumer of science fiction of the 20th century.
The birth of the PC (1977). Although computers began to be developed much earlier, the appearance of personal computers in the early 1970s constituted a true revolution. Especially significant was the launch in the US of the Apple II (1977) and the Atari 400/800 in 1979. Generation X was the first in history to have computers at home.
The reforms of neoliberalism (1979-1990). The rise to power of the conservative parties in the early 1980s, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States with the respective presidencies of Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) and Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), marked the end of the state. of well-being that characterized much of the 20th century, and the beginning of a socially conflictive and economically restrictive era. Privatization, deregulation and reduction of the State changed the economic rules of the game at that time.
The AIDS epidemic (1981). The beginning of the AIDS pandemic (produced by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV) is estimated in June 1981, when its symptoms were identified for the first time and its first five cases in history were diagnosed. The presence of the virus would initially be associated with the homosexual community (especially men), but later it would be understood more fully, becoming a continuous danger for generation X who were already in adulthood and adolescence.
The fall of the Berlin Wall (1989). The collapse of the wall that divided the current capital of Germany into two different cities, and the country into two separate nations, was an event of great international significance, since the division had existed since practically the end of World War II. The collapse of the wall was experienced with euphoria, as a symbol that times were changing rapidly and that a new world order was emerging.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War (1991). The end of the so-called “perestroika”, the process of changes in the Soviet Union promoted by the general secretary of the communist party, Mikhail Gorbachev, lasted from 1985 to 1991 and led, among other things, to the separation of the different nations that made up the rival. ideology of the United States. With its fall, the Cold War in which both superpowers had faced each other came to an end, after almost 44 years. This event represented the triumph of capitalism as a global economic system and was interpreted, in the words of philosopher Francis Fukuyama, as the “end of history.”

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What are the other generations?

In addition to generation

The silent generation. Generation preceding the baby boomerswhose individuals were born between 1928 and 1945, currently covers 3.5% of the world's population.
baby boomers. So called due to the significant rise in birth rates that they witnessed, the baby boomers They were born between 1946 and 1964, and currently represent 15% of the world's population.
Generation Y or millennials. So called because they witnessed the end of the 20th century and the second millennium of the current era, they are the first generation that was born immersed in the technological revolution of the end of the 20th century. It covers those born between 1981 and 1997, and they are 22.4% of the world population.
Generation Z or centennials. Also called “postmillennial” or “centurican”, it is the first generation of digital natives in history, and includes those born between approximately 1997 and 2012. They currently represent 23.7% of the world's population.
Generation Alpha. The most recent generation to date covers individuals born between 2012 and 2022, for now, making it the first generation entirely born in the 21st century. It currently covers 17.2% of the world's population.

Continue with: Collective identity

References

“Generation X” on Wikipedia.
“Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Centennials: which generation do you belong to according to your date of birth” in Clarín (Argentina).
“What are members of Generation X like?” VERY Interesting.
“Generation X (demographic group)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.