Good morning. Generational names have become an identity, a shorthand and a scapegoat – more on that below, along with Donald Trump’s latest Oval Office ambush and Canada’s newest NBA MVP. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Carney defends Canada’s Golden Dome talks with the U.S., saying missile threats are serious
- Carney’s cabinet ministers get the same mandate letter listing ‘priorities’
- Two Israeli embassy staffers were killed in a Washington shooting
Millennial parents under millennial-pink cherry blossoms.Matt Rourke/The Associated Press
Demographics
OK Beta
As a millennial, I am well aware of the knocks on my generation. Boomers deride our weakness for avocado toast and lattes (that’s why, you see, so many of us can’t afford houses) while Gen Z mocks our commitment to side parts and skinny jeans (why we’re all cringe). Companies court us by splashing dusty pink across smartphones, book covers and co-working spaces, because millennials want things that are pretty, but in an ironic, non-committal, post-pretty kind of way. And everyone agrees that we’re narcissists. After all, Time Magazine devoted a whole cover to “The Me Me Me Generation,” and I started this newsletter by talking about myself.
According to a new story from The Globe’s generations reporter (and fellow millennial) Ann Hui, that Time cover in 2013 widened the debate about cohorts from demographer circles to the public sphere. “Suddenly, generational traits became the subject of endless discussion,” she writes. Now, “the names we give to different generations, whether that’s millennial or Gen Z, have become everyday vernacular.” Not only that: Hui writes that these names have turned into identity shorthands, cultural scapegoats and handy cheat sheets for market researchers.
Defining generations might be a collective obsession, but it’s not a hard science. Tastes change, hair parts migrate, and generational labels can oversimplify, leaning especially hard on the experiences of the upper middle class. Still, Hui says there’s a ton of value to be found in generational theory. She answers my questions about who we are and how we got that way.
The grandfather of generational theory was Hungarian sociologist Karl Mannheim, who wrote a paper nearly 100 years ago called Das Problem der Generationen. How did he define a generation?
Mannheim’s theory suggests that generational groups are formed around the shared experience of specific historical events. So for The Greatest Generation (1901-1927), this might be the Second World War; for The Silent Generation (1928-1945), the Great Depression; for baby boomers (1946-1964), the Vietnam War. His theory was focused on individuals who had directly participated or experienced those events. He also left room for the idea that individuals from different cultures, locations and identities might experience those same events differently.
But by the time we get to Gen X, it seems like the unifying force wasn’t a historical event so much as vibes.
Gradually, other theorists – like American authors William Strauss and Neil Howe – broadened the idea to include the overall political, social and economic environment of each generation. So for the generation now known as “X,” born between about 1965 and 1980, demographers suggested names like “the latchkey generation,” because they were the product of two-working-parent households and, increasingly, children of divorce; “the forgotten generation,” because they were overshadowed by baby boomers and millennials; and even the “MTV Generation,” because MTV. Strauss and Howe also introduced the idea of generational cycles – that each cycle lasted about 20 years, and was distinct from the last.
Is that when marketers got involved? Once you start defining a generation by the flannel they wear or the tech they use, is it easier to sell them stuff?
As part of their theory, Strauss and Howe were the first to introduce the term “millennials.” That name exploded – it was all over TV and newspapers, and turned Strauss and Howe into pop-sci darlings. Marketers, especially, embraced it. For them, the idea of generations felt like a cheat code for understanding how to best direct their messages for different age groups. The idea that millennials respond to companies with a sense of social responsibility – we’ve all seen what marketers have done with that. For Gen Z, who prioritize “authenticity,” marketers might hire micro-influencers with fewer than 100,000 followers for sponsored campaigns, rather than more well-known names.
The true generational divide: whether you've used one of these.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
But now social and market researchers are getting into the generational prediction business – they’re telling us what to expect from Gen Alpha, the kids born between 2011 and 2024, and even Gen Beta, the babies born three minutes ago. A study commissioned by Visa said that your five-year-old Alpha daughter will be part of the most entrepreneurial generation yet. Is that remotely helpful to you?
That’s funny, because a different report I read said that Generation Beta would be the entrepreneurs. According to this report, Gen Alpha will be “collaborative” and “adaptable,” which actually sounds pretty great to me.
These conflicting reports, of course, prove the idea that many of the traits we associate with generational labels can and should be taken with a grain of salt. They also illustrate the problem with trying to predict who a generation might become, rather than waiting to see how things play out.
Can generation naming be useful? Where do you see the value?
Yes! I absolutely still believe that generational theory is important. I wouldn’t be the generations reporter otherwise. The period we’re born into – and the environment we grow up in – is essential to shaping who we are and how we think. And having generational categories and names helps us to understand the experiences and perspectives of others, especially when their perspective differs from our own. The more we learn about context, the better we’re able to build empathy and understanding.
But it’s also only one of many different factors that make up our identity. There’s also race, ethnicity, religion, class, gender, sexuality, etc. As Sean Lyons, a University of Guelph professor I interviewed, put it: “Generation is an important basis for identity. But, on most days, in most places, it’s not the most important one.”
What’s the likelihood that Generation Beta is the name that sticks?
I mean, would you want to be called Beta?
The Shot
‘Turn the lights down and just put this on.’
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
In yet another Oval Office ambush, U.S. President Donald Trump showed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa a four-minute video to support his false claims that white farmers are being executed for their land. Afterward, Trump accused Ramaphosa’s government of committing “the opposite of apartheid.” Read more about the meeting here.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: The chief economist for TD warns that Canada is entering a recession and will soon shed another 100,000 jobs.
Abroad: Israeli troops fired “warning shots” on 25 diplomats, including four Canadians, as they visited Jenin in the West Bank yesterday.
On the court: Hamilton native and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the NBA’s MVP award last night.
On the summit: By using a controversial gas to turbo-charge their acclimatization to altitude, four climbers reached the top of Everest in less than a week.
On the books: Affordability concerns and market volatility have many parents worried they won’t leave behind an inheritance – but their kids are banking on one.