will the real 90s kids please stand up
on new adulting identities, the genz-millennial culture wars, and why (respectfully) genz is more fked
1. genz is not okay and it’s not their fault
outside of the friendly & juvenile banter around the genz vs millennial culture wars, it is not difficult to see evidence that millennials were the last generation who had it pretty good. we still had jobs, or at least options; we grew up with more hope, politically and environmentally; workplace culture was positive and about connection; and it felt like we were on the cusp of the best parts of the internet, identity politics, feminism, and queer culture.
granted, it’s easy to romanticise. but all of that has pretty much gone to shit now. isolation + entitlement have peaked, hand in hand1.
what a terrific read this was, my favorite this week.
Millennials were also the last generation to experience social media when it was fun, before it turned into a full-time job. When Instagram was just pics of or feet and brunch in sepia tone, and not a place to manufacture your personality into something aesthetically digestible to others. Social media was essentially one big group chat, just a place for your friends and family to keep up with you. The virtual world wasn’t more important than the real one. We went out, drank vodka sodas, made mistakes, and those mistakes stayed in the bar bathroom. You could have a bad night without it showing up in someone’s group chat five seconds later. We existed before everything was content. We existed before the algorithm decided that life should be packaged into a digestible, monetizable personal brand.
The rise of the alpha male, of podcast bro culture, of men rediscovering their "natural dominance" hadn’t happened yet. The manosphere was contained to the dark corners of Reddit, not sitting in the White House. Feminism was gaining traction in pop culture, but the backlash hadn’t hit yet. And for a brief, fleeting moment, it felt like we were all moving toward something better together, something less rigid, less punishing.
2. Make Capitals Cool Again
likely not happening. typing in all lowercase is a whole thing it seems2. but god do i love culture coming full circle as if genz invented shit anew.
It’s not an entirely new phenomenon, however. the feminist writer and activist bell hooks made the decision to lowercase her own name. This was not simply about aesthetics – it was a political statement, challenging hierarchies and rejecting formality, while also attempting to shift attention from hooks the person on to her ideas.
CLICK HERE: The death of capital letters: why genZ loves lowercase
3. adulting: yes, no, maybe?
it’s no surprise that an extended recession, a global pandemic, and a deeply uncertain future with AI and climate change are causing young people to delay ‘growing up’. what’s also not surprising is that a lot of the ‘growing up’ is only happening in online spaces - which is easy, with no real agency or stakes - and not necessarily translating to the real world.
There’s this sense that adulthood keeps getting delayed, like putting off jury duty for next year. Conversely, childhood feels as though it’s being extended, drawn out like a watercolor, the pigment running paler and paler. Research is showing that this is quantitatively the case as well - at least when you look at traditional Western markers for “growing up.” For example, psychologist Jean Twenge of San Diego State University corroborates the lag, reporting that American teenagers are less likely to have tried alcohol, had sex, acquired a driver’s license, had a job, or gone on dates than teenagers twenty years ago. Today’s teens are pushing those “firsts” into their twenties more and more, making modern-day twenty-year-olds similar, in ways, to teens of decades past.
this is a thoughtful essay. it critiques the current model scathingly, but urges one to not merely be upset at the state of the world. another excerpt:
For example, refusing to execute labor because there’s “no ethical consumption under capitalism” is relatively easy online, it simply requires you not to do work. However, this digital identity often doesn’t require you to “do” anything in lieu of your paid labor sacrifice - such as devoting your reserved time to spaces and causes that actively work against the pitfalls of capitalism. One can simply be anti-capitalist by rejecting work and scrolling on their phone. Such an effect is infantilizing - it releases the burdens of responsibility and replaces them with no thoughts, just vibes, much like the blank mind of a baby.
4. too much of a good thing
found this piece of data interesting. a lot of this is healthy. parents are dedicating more time to their children, awareness around health effects of smoking & drinking are being taken seriously. what we may need to capture are newer risky behaviors, unlike traditional ones, which now live on the internet. this would have implications on how we even learn socialising as a generation.
CLICK HERE: Gen Z teens are taking far fewer risks
5. finding relevance once again
fun perspective that perhaps genz is starting to feel SO bleak about the world they inhabit that millennial culture is having a resurgence rooted in some simplistic nostalgia. that’s one thing i didn’t know even needed a comeback, i suppose3.
For some time now, a Millennial was one of the worst things you could be online. As soon as a younger generation came in to skewer our mannerisms—saying “doggo,” pausing, making coffee a personality trait—it was game over. “Millennial cringe” compilations racked up hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok.
no unique experience in this world, i suppose.
until next time & new reads!
🌻
~ rufus
this is particularly being felt at the workplace. i find the tug between healthier boundaries and professional ownership interesting to observe.
i’d like to pretend that this substack’s lowercase vibe is driven by more interesting reasons, but it’s just that - vibes. and laziness because my macbook does not auto capitalise.
i don’t need to actually maintain any objectivity because this is my substack and i can do whatever i want