Generation Gap
Lack of cordeal, harmoneous, and carefree relationships among young ones and elders is called generation gap. Like all other social ills, it has got a significant status. A generation gap describes a vast difference in cultural norms between a younger generation and their elders. It occurs when older and younger people do not understand each other because of their different experiences, opinions, habits and behaviour.
The term first came into prominence in Western countries during the 1960s and described the cultural differences between the baby boomers and their parents. Although history had always seen some degree of generational differences, during this era the differences between the two generations magnified significantly in comparison to previous times. There were major differences in such matters as musical tastes, fashion, drug use, and politics. This situation may have been accelerated by the unprecedented size of the young baby boomer generation, which gave them a greater sense of power and influence than had been seen previously, and the younger generation was willing to rebel against societal norms to an previously unseen degree.
Several examples of generational differences were prominent during the period. Rock music and soul music, popular among the youth, was mostly detested by their elders. Long hair on young males was frequently seen as a shocking act of rebellion against societal norms by their parents. The large scale protests against the Vietnam War on American college campuses contrasted sharply with the universal national support for World War II that their parents had experienced. Traditional sexual mores were crumbling under the weight of the sexual revolution. Drug use increased among young people, and many youths "dropped out" into the hippie counterculture. While not all of these attributes characterized all young people, the differences were pervasive enough among enough people to cause significant friction in many areas of society.
Baby boomers had a strong sense of generational identity during this period. A common catchphrase of the era among young people was "don't trust anyone over 30." This sentiment was also expressed by the rock group The Who, in their anthem "My Generation", in which the narrator sang, "Hope I die before I get old." The influence of the baby boomers was so significant that the entire generation was named "Man of the Year" by Time magazine in 1966.
In the 1980s, and even more so the 1990s, many have made note of a widening rift between the Baby Boomers and Generation X, with the latter often accusing the former of having "sold out" their 1960s-era ideals and advocating a moral crackdown on the latter's allegedly wild, undisciplined behavior. This theme became an important element in what some commentators have labelled the Culture Wars.
In the both the aforementioned case and the earlier conflict, another generation is often seen as standing in between the two engaged in argument, either identifying with both side's assertions or neither's. In the 1960s the Silent Generation was frequently described as the group filling this role, with the Baby Busters occupying a similarly intermediate position in the more recent Baby Boomer Generation X feud. Despite the sharp divides between generations, cross-generational friendships and cross-generational sexual relationships are common.
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Baby Busters is a name for a demographic group born in the United States, and sometimes Canada, from 1958 through 1968. They are called this due to a decline in the birth rate; specifically, the U.S. birth rate fell for eleven consecutive years after 1957, the longest such decline in American history. The name is intended to contrast with the term "Baby Boomer".
A baby boom is any period of greatly increased birth rate within temporal and usually geographical bounds. Many such instances have been recorded in human history and are often caused by uplifting factors such as good harvests, victories in sport or war, or just due to superstition. Persons born during this time of love are often called baby boomers. Recent baby boom periods include: year 2000 baby boom (2000); echo baby boom (1978 - 1992); post-WW2 baby boom (1945 - 1964).
Generation X describes the generation following the post-World War II baby boom, especially Americans and Canadians born in the 1960s and 1970s, although the exact dates of birth defining this age demographic are highly debated. Generation X has also been described as a generation consisting of those people whose "teen years touched the 1980s", though many people that are considered part of the generation had their teenage years during the 1990s. The transition between colonialism and globalization is thought to separate the Baby Boomers from the Baby Busters, a sub-generation of Generation X made up of the earliest born members. Other common global influences defining Generation X across the world include: increasingly flexible and varied gender roles for women contrasted with even more rigid gender roles for men, the unprecedented socio-economic impact of an ever increasing number of women entering the workforce, and the sweeping cultural-religious impact of the Iranian revolution in 1979. It is particularly important to note that Generation X grew up during the end of the Cold War and the Ronald Reagan/Margaret Thatcher/Mikhail Gorbachev eras. As they transitioned into adulthood the Generation Xers watched the Soviet Union collapse and America become the only superpower.
The name Silent Generation was coined in the November 5, 1951 cover story of Time to refer to the generation born from 1925 to 1942. The members of this generation were considered "withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent." The generation is also known as the Postwar Generation and the Seekers. The Silent grew up as the suffocated children of war and depression. They came of age too late to be war heroes and just too early to be youthful free spirits. Instead, this early-marrying Lonely Crowd became the risk-averse technicians, sensitive rock-n-rollers, brooding actors and civil rights advocates of a post-Crisis era in which conformity seemed a sure ticket to success.
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Baby Busters is a name for a demographic group born in the United States, and sometimes Canada, from 1958 through 1968. They are called this due to a decline in the birth rate; specifically, the U.S. birth rate fell for eleven consecutive years after 1957, the longest such decline in American history. The name is intended to contrast with the term "Baby Boomer".
1. Why does the generation gap as a social phenomenon have a significant status?
2. Why did the Silent generation turn to conformity?
3. What is the difference between Baby Boomers and Baby Busters?
4. What were the common global influences defining Generation X?
5. How could the end of the Cold War possibly influence the generation following the Generation X?
IV. After reading the text about the Generation Y and MTV Generation define their major characteristic features. Do you consider yourself belonging to one of this generation or not? Explain your opinion.
Generation Y
Generation Y (occasionally written as Generation Why?) alternatively Echo Boom, Byte Block, Internet Generation, the Babies On Board and Millennial Generation is a name used in demographics to describe a particular generational cohort comprising those born in the late 20th century, especially the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s. Generation Y culture is generally considered to span from the late Nineties through the 2000s, probably including at least part of the 2010s also. The inherent similarities between Generation Y and its predecessor, Generation X, have led many to view Gen-Y as a mere protraction of Gen-X, going as far as to question the existence of two separate generational classifications. There are, however, very important differences between the generations, including (but not limited to) the age at which modern technology was introduced to members of each generation.
In many rich countries, the 1980s and 1990s were a period of rapidly falling birthrates. In Southern Europe and Japan, and less markedly in Northern and Eastern Europe, Generation Y is dramatically smaller than any of its predecessors, and its childhood years tended to be marked by small families, both immediate and extended, small classes at school and school closures. In the Soviet Union during the 1980s, there was a "baby boom echo" similar to that in the United States, and Generation Y there is relatively large; however, birth rates fell through the floor in the 1990s to extremely low levels. This meant a lot of individual attention from parents in a period in which society was becoming intrinsically more risk averse.
The increasing stratification of wealth in many societies has led to an increase in the societal differences between poor and rich members of this generation. Although many middle class and wealthier families arrange many extra-curricular activities for their children, less affluent families cannot afford such extras, increasing the pressure on their own children. Since much of the generational character is tied to the prevalence of "extracurriculars" and relatively expensive technologies such as computers, some feel that the description of the generation only applies to wealthy members or at least the broadly middle class.
In Eastern Europe, Generation Y is the first generation without mature memories of communism or dictatorial rule. In newly rich countries such as South Korea or Greece, Generation Y has known nothing but developed world standards of living, while their grandparents often grew up in developing world conditions, causing considerable social changes and inter-generational difficulties as the young reject many traditional ways of life.
MTV Generation includes the end of the Generation X (a generation following the baby boom, born in the 1960s and 1970s) yet importantly includes the elders of Generation Y (a generation considered to follow Generation X from 1977 onwards). Most notable factors relevant to the MTV Generation is the overall nihilistic attitude of the teenagers growing up through the 1990s having been brought up in the 1980s and recently becoming adults of the 3rd millennium, as well as
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The launch of MTV in its early period. Also included in the early period of MTV is the creation of Beavis and Butt-Head cartoon.
The fall of the Berlin Wall
The First Gulf War
Madonna and Michael Jackson, as well as Nirvana and Pearl Jam
The Nintendo and Amiga gaming systems
Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev and George H. W. Bush
The worldwide popularity of The Simpsons
The second generation to mostly be influenced through Television (especially Music Television) as the primary medium for information and entertainment (the first being the Baby Boom generation crossing over to the early Generation X - when TV came into becoming an item in every household during the 1950s) especially from children growing up in the 1980s to their teens in the 1990s.
The end of the Cold War and break up of the Soviet Union
The re-invented Dream Date Barbie doll and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Macaulay Culkin and Michael J. Fox
The teens of the MTV Generation who grew up in the 1990s have also been referred to as the Doom Generation, due to the popularity of the 1993 computer game Doom. The meaning also represents the overall feeling of the generation, having been children through most of the revolutionary changes that occurred to Generation X, not to mention living their childhood through the 1980s they had no sense of direction or sentiment of belonging, thus encapsulating an entire generation within a "doomed" atmosphere - giving the re-birth into the Goth and Grunge music and lifestyle. In addition, most Generation XY members, even those born as late as 1985 can still remember a time before the digital outburst of technology such as the widespread use of DVD players, digital audio players, cellphones, digital cable, iBooks, and other now ubiquitous inventions.
V. What do you think about alcohol? Do you think there is an alcohol problem among young people? Read about this problem in Britain, compare the situation in our country with English, find some figures concerning the question.
