You’ve got to hand it to Gen Z!!

[MadamAndTheAnts]

I know the whole transgender thing causes a lot of debate on Mumsnet. I’m not looking to stir that up here. But, regardless of where you stand, I think we all have to hand it to Gen Z for managing to freak out older generations so effectively.

Boomers spooked the Silent Generation with their love of rock n roll and the counterculture of the 60s.

Gen X framed the Boomers with acid house and rave.

Millennials were kinda lame as ‘hipster’ was little more than irony and beards.

Millennials and Gex thought they’d seen it all and were cool and tolerant.

But then came Gen Z who decided to disrupt the traditional thinking around gender. And all hell has broken loose. Gen X who thought of themselves as seriously tolerant have been massively freaked out!!!!

You have to hand it to Gen Z!!!

Aren't gen X the parents of gen Z? I think we (gen X) should take some responsibility for how it's ended up here. Our endless tolerance and laissez faire attitude has played a part here. Uni in the 90s was all about postmodern relativism, there are no absolute truths, external objectivity does not exist etc etc. it seems clear to me that that is what has laid the ground for this ideology to gain acceptance so fast and so widely

This. I'm Gen X and my males friends wore dresses and make up and I wore combats. Or dresses and make up. Because no one gave a shit. I think more of my male friends bothered with nail varnish than any of the female ones.

And we were happy doing it. Our protests were real and on the streets, we effected actual social change rather than being twatty online. NOW I'm twatty online. I was much cooler back then.

Gen X was by far the best generation.

Seems to be mainly benefitting ethically dubious medical professionals, pharmaceutical companies and middle aged men to me. Which is unusual for a youth revolution.

I take no responsiblity for it at all. I have always brought my DCs up to believe that your sex doesn't determine your clothes, your job or anything.

I know the whole transgender thing causes a lot of debate on Mumsnet. I’m not looking to stir that up here.

Interesting that you came to the "sex and gender discussions" part of Mumsnet to do so, really then.

Totes.

They've certainly surprised us all with a lack of critical and logical thinking.

I thought PoMo was a pile of shite at Uni and told anyone who would listen. But yes, it was a load of (actually harmful) bollocks.

Just ignore it until all the energy is spent.

Same as toddlers, only louder and harder to pick up.

I saw Mermaids used a pic of Fleabag to hint at non binaryism. A groundbreaking character suddenly put in a box.

I actually call them generation shit, they've dismantled a lot of hard bloody work.

You’ve got to hand it to posters who turn up to post goady asinine drivel and then say they’re not looking to stir anything up 🙄

aye right

Its not gen Z that are the problem. Its normal (just as in all the examples you gave) for the younger generation to rebel against and to a certain extent "freak out" the older generations. Some of that is purely superficial (hair etc), some of it relates to real political positive change, and some off it is not such a great idea (generation identity etc). What is NOT normal is the almost worshipping of young peoples views/ideas as inherently superior/always correct and the hijacking of regular teenage/young person angst by older people with agendas. Its unbalanced and strange.

And I say this as someone who was against the Iraq war as a teenager (I think time proved me right) and at one point in my teenage years fully sold on Marx (life experience, reading more, knowing people who grew up in Communist countries has changed my mind on that).

And they've added a true "Gen Z" regressive touch to it. Obviously the makeup wearing man was Madam not Adam!

I refer to this as the Posh Spice Rule. If you have to state something, it probably isn't true.

Yay - how funny. All of this built on the wrecked bodies, future infertility and harmed future relationships of children too young to understand what these toxic adults are telling them.
Yay again. How funny..... 😡

And FYI the far right are very interested in mobilising young people too (this has already started and you can see them using the same language/arguments) - I wonder if the people soooo taken with the idea of "gen Z" as some fresh faced vanguard of left wing progressiveness will be so taken when the inevitable backlash is also fronted by teenagers and people in their twenties. A shit idea is a shit idea and racism is racism no matter the age of the person spouting it.

The only thing you and your gen Z mates are getting handed to you here OP are your arses.

Nice try 🙄

This ☝️

Not heard of that before - thanks, it gave me a good laugh.

Got to say my Gen Alpha thinks they are nuts. Especially since they tried to cancel Mr Beast.

I doubt very much the poster is gen Z. I see them either as the "cool mum" of Regina George in Mean Girls OR as the sort of odd middle aged man that used to try to "hang out" with me and my friends when we went clubbing as teenagers. "Hey young ladies aren't adults like totally square and unhip. Not like me though" bleuurgh.

Yawn, every generation thinks they invented rebellion! The difference between this and the older brand of rebellion is that once the punks of my generation grew up, they were able to grow out their hair style and let the piercings heal over. Only a few caused permanent damage with drugs and these are the ones I look back at with great sadness. This generation is mutilating themselves with drugs and surgery and I lay the blame for this entirely on the adults who are facilitating it instead of indulgently saying “yes dear” when Samuel declares himself to be Samantha.

Are you being sarcastic OP? I think this is the lamest, most incoherent and least progressive attempt at rebellion ever. I don't think it's a Gen Z thing either. I know young people from that generation who haven't fallen for the pomo woo woo. The young people/younger adults who have swallowed it seem to cross a couple of generations. They haven't shaken anything up. In fact it's just embarrassing how clueless and unaware of social history and equality issues they are.

"Gen X who thought of themselves as seriously tolerant have been massively freaked out!!!!"

Err..According to polls, Gen X are still tolerant.

It is the age groups 18-28 and to a slightly lesser extent 28-38 that are the most intolerant in society.

They are the ones who are authoritarian in demanding that no opinions that they want to here are to be voiced. They should be silenced. They are responsible for the words 'tolerant' and 'kind' now meaning the very opposite of their known meaning. Under this authoritarianism, words have been destabilised and too many of them have enthusiastically embraced it.

And yes. Gen X is 'freaked out'. These are our fucking kids that have been caught up in this. Question is OP. Are you too 'freaked' out? If not, why not?

As a millennial I can also remember being about 12 and desperate to have a pencil case branded with the Playboy logo that was super popular at the time. My mum said absolutely not. At the time I felt that was her not understanding me/my friends. As an adult though I will grudgingly admit that it was 12 year old me who didn't understand (and slightly judge the parents of friends who bought it for them).

Funnily enough, I just came across this article that says that Gen Z are terfs, same as us Mumsnetters 😆

www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/58018/1/does-gen-z-have-a-transphobia-terf-problem-trans-rights-attitudes-millenial

(Dazed used to be a proper magazine called Dazed and Confused back in our day!)