Generations and Generalizations

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the Baby Boomer generation (those who were teenagers and in their 20s during the 1960s)?

I think of hippies. Drugs. Music. Protest. A liberal movement. Yet, if you dissect the prominent figures during that time, from Janis Joplin to Martin Luther King Jr. to Andy Warhol to Dennis Hopper, you’ll notice that none of them were actually boomers. Additionally, as those hippies became adults, something drastic occurred; they became conservatives.

A 2015 study found that 44% of Baby Boomers identified as conservative and 21% identified as liberal. In 1969 Baby Boomers aged 18-29 were 35% to 21% in favor democrat to republican. In 1979 it was even stronger; when they were aged 28-39 it was 45% to 19%. That same 2015 study also found that 28% of Millennials identified as conservative compared to 30% liberal. So why do I care about any of this?

Three primary reasons.

1. We tend to over-generalize generations based on what is popular and we often miss what doesn’t get headlines.

2. People change. Our beliefs evolve. Humans are not static.

3. “Kids these days” has been a mantra that the older generations have used for years to describe the generations below them. What did the greatest generation think about the Baby Boomers? What did the Baby Boomers think about themselves during the hippy movement? What’s your perception of Millennials, Gen X, or Gen Y?

Generalizations lack nuance and context; it’s often where our blind spots live. We narrow in on one aspect of a person instead of staying open to the possibilities of who they are and who they can become. Every day we change, little by little. Those that are seen as closed-minded even change their minds on how they see the world. We often forget that when talking about generations. And I think the way we talk about generations is emblematic of how we generally over-generalize. Who were you at 8? 18? 28? 38? 48? 58? 68? 78? 88? 98? Do you think the 8-year-old version of you is the same as what the 98 version of you will be? Hard to believe.

Does your generation impact you? I am sure it does. We are all products of our environments. However, generations have more in common than their perceived differences. Kids these days will become adults. They’ll change. Grow. Let’s tone back the generalizations based on when someone was born. We will all be better off for it.