Generation X

Generation X is a term used in demographics, the social sciences, and more broadly in popular culture. It is mostly related to the Western culture and demography and generally refers to persons born in the 1960s and 1970s, although the exact dates of birth defining this age demographic are highly debated. Born after baby boomers, it 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.

Beginnings

The generation was traditionally begun at 1965, taking off from the birth-rate-based Baby Boom span of 1946–1964, but since many notable people who are normally thought of as clearly Gen-X, such as Courtney Love, Janeane Garofalo and Eddie Vedder, were born in 1964, this year is often cited as the preferred beginning of Generation X. In their book Generations William Strauss and Neil Howe called this generation the "13th Generation" because the tag, like this generation, is a little Halloweenish, and it is the thirteenth to know the flag of the United States (counting back to the peers of Benjamin Franklin), and set its birth years at 1961 to 1981.{{ref|strausshowe}}

Related Topics:
Birth-rate - Baby Boom - Courtney Love - Janeane Garofalo - Eddie Vedder - Generations - William Strauss - Neil Howe - Halloweenish - United States - Benjamin Franklin - 1961 - 1981

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This generation is sometimes also known as the Baby Busters, or just Busters, although in Anthony Brancato's system this generation is divided into two distinctive groups, the Baby Busters (Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain) and the Post-Busters (Ani DiFranco and Alanis Morissette), with the former group's first birth year being fixed at 1958, instead of 1961 (this system also observes 1980 and not 1981 as the last birth year for the Post-Busters). "Baby Busters" (and sometimes twentysomething) was, in fact, the characteristic name used for this generation before Coupland's book was published.

Related Topics:
Anthony Brancato - Courtney Love - Kurt Cobain - Ani DiFranco - Alanis Morissette - 1958 - 1961 - 1980 - 1981

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In continental Europe, the generation is often known as Generation E, or simply known as the Nineties Generation, along the lines of such other European generation names as "Generation of 1968" and "Generation of 1914". In France, the term Génération Bof is in use, with "bof" being a French word for "whatever", considered by some French people to be the defining Gen-X saying. In Iran, they are called the Burnt Generation. In some Latin American countries the name "Crisis Generation" is sometimes used due to the recurring financial crisis in the region during those years. In the Communist bloc, these Gen-Xers are often known to show a deeper dislike of the Communist system than their parents since they grew in an era of political and economic stagnation, and were among the first that embraced the ideals of Glasnost and Perestroika, which they tend to be called the Glasnost-Perestroika Generation.

Related Topics:
Génération Bof - Burnt Generation - Crisis Generation - Glasnost - Perestroika - Glasnost-Perestroika Generation

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In the USA, this generation's parents are the Baby Boomers (post-WWII) and the Silent Generation. Generation X's typical grandparents are from the G.I. Generation (the World War II generation), but sometimes from the Silent Generation. Generation X's children will be or have been born in the 1990s and the following few decades, including Generation Y and the following generation (Generation Z). Assuming the average person has their children somewhere in his or her 30s, this means Generation X's children will be born between 1994 and 2010. Its typical grandchildren will be born from 2024 to about 2040.

Related Topics:
Silent Generation - G.I. Generation - 1990s - Generation Y - Following generation (Generation Z) - 1994 - 2010 - 2024 - 2040

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In Western countries, Generation X consists of far fewer people than the baby boom generation and has had correspondingly less impact on popular culture, but it came into its own during the late 1980s and early 1990s. A fashion for grunge music exemplified by the band Nirvana expressed the frustrations of a generation forever doomed to live in the shadow of its elders. As is common in generational shifts, Gen-X thinking has significant overtones of cynicism against things held dear to the previous generation. Punk rock bands such as Pennywise from Hermosa Beach promoted a progressive punk rock style of music, endorsing a positive mental attitude. Others point out that grunge derived its stance and musical values from 1970s punk and heavy metal, and thus was simply part of the wave of 1970s nostalgia that swept college campuses in the early 1990s. European music experienced a renaissance in the form of many kinds of electronic dance music such as Acid House, Rave etc pioneered by groups such as The Shamen which were less beholden to 1970s nostalgia, and more clearly descendant from 1980's American club "house" music. The electronic dance scene in Europe would experience great notoriety thanks to a number of highly publicised Ecstasy related deaths.

Related Topics:
Popular culture - 1980s - 1990s - Nirvana - Pennywise - 1970s - Punk - Heavy metal - Acid House - Rave - The Shamen - Ecstasy

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