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BBC have deboomerised me.

281 replies

Thegoatliesdownonbroadway · 06/12/2024 19:17

I thought boomers were up to 1964, BBC news had an article about "Alphas". In which boomers were designated as born between 1940 and 1960, so I am an "X" now. Given the resentments that exist towards "Boomers", maybe it is for the best.

OP posts:
the80sweregreat · 07/12/2024 07:25

Us X's didn't have it easy , but it's much harder for the ones born in the 90s I think.

the80sweregreat · 07/12/2024 07:25

I bought my first mobile in 2003.

TheDogsMother · 07/12/2024 07:30

I was always under the impression I was Gen X and only recently I saw it was up to 1964. That would make both me and my mother Boomers so I'm going with the BBC from criteria now on.

PowerRangersAuntie · 07/12/2024 07:32

the80sweregreat · 07/12/2024 07:25

Us X's didn't have it easy , but it's much harder for the ones born in the 90s I think.

I agree totally!

VesperLind · 07/12/2024 07:32

StinkyWizzleteets · 06/12/2024 23:22

1946 - 1964 are the baby boomers (post war generation)
gen x is 1965 until 1979/80bbc are talking shit.

Thank you #BoomerAndProud

PlayingDevilsAdvocateisinteresting · 07/12/2024 07:37

Well, what I would like to know from my childhood, is: Has Aquarius Dawned yet? 🤭

Jumell · 07/12/2024 07:40

To be honest I feel they should introduce ‘deboomerized’ into the mainstream Oxford English Dictionary!! It’s definitely a thing ! 💪

AlbertCamusflage · 07/12/2024 07:47

I'd be deboomerised too, according to that BBC cut-off. It saves me from being the same age demographic as my parents, which seemed daft. Their life experiences were so different from mine and I just don't have the magical pension and similar benefits that boomers are castigated for allegedly having.

It is a relief not to be a boomer. It feels like a partial shield against a facile ageism that seems to be so common and accepted.
The demographics associated with each named generation are only probabilistic, only little insights into a few percentage points here and there, but in a populist age they are used to express hatred and sow division.

Seymour5 · 07/12/2024 07:49

The sixties were brilliant! As an early boomer, I think our generation had great times, and has seen amazing changes. Hardly anyone had a car, lots of homes were still pretty primitive, no inside lavs, or baths, or phones. No TVs in my childhood, and little foreign travel. But we had the moon landings, the music, the fashion!

Women’s place was often still seen as in the home, but to a lesser extent than generations before. Equality has moved on apace, sky’s the limit for my DGDs. Getting pregnant outside marriage was still frowned on, even though the expression ‘free love’ was from that era! University was for the minority, lots of us left school at 15, but unlike our parents, we were keen to take on a mortgage and become home owners. DH is from the end of the silent gen, I’m a boomer, our DC are Gen X, and the DGC are Gen Z and Alpha. Wow!

Jumell · 07/12/2024 07:56

AlbertCamusflage · 07/12/2024 07:47

I'd be deboomerised too, according to that BBC cut-off. It saves me from being the same age demographic as my parents, which seemed daft. Their life experiences were so different from mine and I just don't have the magical pension and similar benefits that boomers are castigated for allegedly having.

It is a relief not to be a boomer. It feels like a partial shield against a facile ageism that seems to be so common and accepted.
The demographics associated with each named generation are only probabilistic, only little insights into a few percentage points here and there, but in a populist age they are used to express hatred and sow division.

Tbh I’m Gen X and I think any critique of Boomers people are just jel … tbh

Jumell · 07/12/2024 08:01

Seymour5 · 07/12/2024 07:49

The sixties were brilliant! As an early boomer, I think our generation had great times, and has seen amazing changes. Hardly anyone had a car, lots of homes were still pretty primitive, no inside lavs, or baths, or phones. No TVs in my childhood, and little foreign travel. But we had the moon landings, the music, the fashion!

Women’s place was often still seen as in the home, but to a lesser extent than generations before. Equality has moved on apace, sky’s the limit for my DGDs. Getting pregnant outside marriage was still frowned on, even though the expression ‘free love’ was from that era! University was for the minority, lots of us left school at 15, but unlike our parents, we were keen to take on a mortgage and become home owners. DH is from the end of the silent gen, I’m a boomer, our DC are Gen X, and the DGC are Gen Z and Alpha. Wow!

I love your music - Tremeloes, Hollies, Love Affair etc

my greatest dream in life is to buy an F registration Morris Minor so I can drive it to Lipton’s !!!!

I wish I could’ve left school at 15 or better still 13 like my grandad !

Shinyandnew1 · 07/12/2024 08:03

In which boomers were designated as born between 1940 and 1960

Thats rubbish-those born during the war aren’t boomers.

ErrolTheDragon · 07/12/2024 08:12

BeccaS34 · 07/12/2024 03:20

Boomer always struck me as an Americanism. The UK had a much less prosperous time right after the war and more clean up to do.

Yes, it really is. The postwar period in the U.K. was markedly different to the US - there was rationing up to 1952 ffs.

Anyway, I've been deboomerized too.

RedToothBrush · 07/12/2024 08:28

There's a known thing about microgeneration at the beginning/end of generations which share traits from both the generation before and the generation after. They are known collectively as 'cuspers' but each micro generation also has it's own name: Gen Jones (between Boomers and Gen X), Xennials (between Gen X and Millennials), Zillennials (between Millennials and Gen Z) and Zalphas (between Gen Z and Gen Alpha).

You can be born on a cusp but not have the characteristics of a cusper though - people who match the characteristics of their micro generation tend to be early adopters of technology and embraced change earlier than their peers.

Gen Jones - this is quite a broad age range, particularly because the end of the boomer period is fairly disputed and not as defined as later generation. I believe it's related to the assassination of JFK though, with the cuspers being those who were too young to remember the assassination when it happened.

Characteristics
These cuspers were not as financially successful as older Baby Boomers. They experienced a recession like many Generation Xers but had a much more difficult time finding jobs than Generation X did. While they learned to be IT-savvy, they did not have computers until after high school but were some of the first to purchase them for their homes. They were among some of the first to take an interest in video games. They get along well with Baby Boomers, but share different values. While they are comfortable in office environments, they are more relaxed at home. They are less interested in advancing their careers than Baby Boomers and more interested in quality of life.

Xennials - this is much more narrow in years than Gen Jones. This is largely related to the update of digital over analogue technology.

Researchers point out that these cuspers have both the healthy skepticism of Generation X and the optimism of Millennials. They are likely to challenge authority, but also are more career-focused than Generation X. While not all of these cuspers are digital natives, they are very comfortable with technology.

DH and I fall very firmly into this band. We both were socialising online very early - we have friends both sides of the divide but find that our friends from each side tend to socialise primarily within their own generation and find it hard to relate to the experiences of the other. This apparently pretty much a feature of being a cusper who are known for almost acting as communicators between the generations who don't understand each other well.

It makes a lot of sense because it's all about shared experiences.

BBC have deboomerised me.
RaininSummer · 07/12/2024 08:37

I would love to not be called a boomer. Born in 1962 I don't feel I have these traits as definitely no huge pension and will be working to 67.

RedToothBrush · 07/12/2024 08:41

RaininSummer · 07/12/2024 08:37

I would love to not be called a boomer. Born in 1962 I don't feel I have these traits as definitely no huge pension and will be working to 67.

Welcome to Gen Jones.

Jumell · 07/12/2024 08:42

RaininSummer · 07/12/2024 08:37

I would love to not be called a boomer. Born in 1962 I don't feel I have these traits as definitely no huge pension and will be working to 67.

I envious of you born in 1962 because when you’d have come of age … in 1980 … you’d have had the most EXCELLENT music … ❤️🙌

pepperaunt · 07/12/2024 08:45

I’m sorry if anyone has said this, but I think the BBC (and others) are separating the youngest Boomers from the others as a combination of the wish not to be associated with a vilified generation and pandering to their refusal to admit they’re old (born 1963 so it’s exactly my demographic)

Boomer55 · 07/12/2024 08:47

Boomers were always 1946-1964. 🙂

RayonSunrise · 07/12/2024 08:48

Dahliasarebeautiful · 07/12/2024 00:54

There's actually a little niche in-between Generation X and Millienials between 1977-1983 called Xennials. Analogue childhood, digital adulthood. So says the internet... I might have been slow on the uptake but I was 25 when I opened my FB account in 2007!

Ha - I've read that before, and it makes me laugh because I'm true GenX but because I work in tech (am a true nerd and was an internet very early adopter) I fit the Xennial profile, though I'm too old.

It's a good reminder that generational labels are just a bit of fun, they don't actually work at individual level!

Jumell · 07/12/2024 08:50

Boomer55 · 07/12/2024 08:47

Boomers were always 1946-1964. 🙂

THIS !!

now where DID I put my ration book?

okright · 07/12/2024 08:52

Gen x-ers will be the new boomers to be on the receiving end of the ire directly.

Jumell · 07/12/2024 08:58

okright · 07/12/2024 08:52

Gen x-ers will be the new boomers to be on the receiving end of the ire directly.

But there’s nothing about us that’s controversial!!

all we do is pour ourself another Pimms and refuse to get involved in the drama !

Also - we are the glorious generation who - had free milk at break time then had free milk taken suddenly from us!

RaininSummer · 07/12/2024 08:58

Jumell · 07/12/2024 08:42

I envious of you born in 1962 because when you’d have come of age … in 1980 … you’d have had the most EXCELLENT music … ❤️🙌

You might think so but I actually preferred most of the 70s music. The 80s got too disco for me.

Jumell · 07/12/2024 09:01

RaininSummer · 07/12/2024 08:58

You might think so but I actually preferred most of the 70s music. The 80s got too disco for me.

Ag I Loved Ska and New Wave!

although I’m well known for being able to single handedly turn Bad Manners’ ‘Can Can’ into the ‘Can’t Can’t’ 🙌🙌