I was reading an article in Wired magazine the other day about Generation X and how we’ve matured and changed in the last quarter century to become more responsible and settled.
While I don’t necessarily disagree with this assessment, what really caught my eye was a list of famous generation Xer’s, particularly President Obama.
While technically it is true (he was born in 1961 and by the definition of the generation X time frame of 1961 to 1981 he fits), I find it hard to accept that he is part of my generation. He seems to be more in tune with an older, more analog generation.
Being born in 1970 I am smack dab in the middle of Generation X and I suppose I do carry some of the ideas, faults, and peccadilloes of my generation. I am more in tune with my fellow X’ers than with my parents and with those born to the later generations. I don’t necessarily agree with all the ideas of this generation but I am aware of them.
But what is it like for those born right at the edge of one generation and another? How do they identify? Ideas, concepts, and movements from both generations tug at them constantly. I always think that it must be something akin to ‘middle child syndrome”, where you don’t really know what role you play in the family.
Sometimes the generational gap isn’t too broad a leap. The Millennial generation seems to me to be quite similar to the Xer’s in ideas and problems and I don’t imagine that those born between these two generations are too confused.
I don’t think that the same can be said for those born between the baby boomers and generation X. I imagine that the early sixties was a somewhat confusing time to be born and to start out in life. Many of the old cultural identities didn’t apply anymore and the new ones had not yet been drafted. One generation is more idealistic and the other one more self-centered. What does this make these in betweeners? Do they rebel against both generations and set their own course? Are they somehow handicapped in life by not having a firm set of ideas?
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