Whenever a generation comes of age, marketers are blitzed with information. Analysis after analysis about the generation appears. When there’s a changing of the guard, everyone wants to know how to deal with the new guy. We are presently seeing this with Generation Y.
Everything I read about Gen Y gives me the impression that Gen X is Gomorrah and we are the cleansing flood. Taking a macro perspective, Generation Y is really not that different from its predecessors. We are not a radical departure from the norm. There will always be generational constants — innate truths of society — that haven’t changed since we started walking upright.
Kids want to be adults, adults want to be kids
When you’re small, you want to be a grownup. It seems like they have all the fun, made worse by the fact that you have no say over anything.
However, once you grow up and get that authority, you realize that it’s a lot more work than it seemed. So you pine for the days when life was simpler, when your biggest worry in the world was which flavour of ice cream you were going to get from the truck.
Teens: rebels to parents, conformists to peers
Media loves to show images of teenagers slamming doors in their parents’ faces and sneaking out at night. Wow! These kids really play by their own rules! Rebel without a cause and that whole archetype.
In reality, teens are not rebels — they are the ultimate conformists. Teenage life gives them their first tastes of independent social interaction and they don’t know how to act. Everyone takes cues from each other, because everyone is afraid of looking “uncool”.
The cliques are the same
The stories of 25+year old movies like Grease, West Side Story and Fast Times at Ridgemont High still work today. The youth cliques portrayed are enduring: there will always be A-listers, B-listers, independents, hedonists and outsiders. Every generation has a “cool” influencer group (A-listers) and “non-conformists” (outsiders) will always be around.
Young Liberals and Old Conservatives
Young people see faults in the current system and want change; the elders fear said changes because their way has always worked.
If parents like it, it isn’t cool
It’s often been said that once a fad reaches the soccer mom, it can be pronounced dead. Youth constantly try to create their own culture down to the buzzwords. MTV ran a cartoon in 2004 that announced the death of the term “Bling Bling” because it had gotten too popular, so popular that even your grandmother knew what it was.
Epilogue
These truths are sewn very deeply in the fabric of human culture. Having lived in Asia and North America for 10 years each, I’ve witnessed firsthand how both cultures reflect these truths.
Generation Y, with all its technological prowess and gusto for change, is really just like every other generation. It’s only when you look at generations under a microscope that their differences are highlighted.
