Reader Rudolph Harrier and author JD Cowan unearth more evidence that Generation Y is a separate cohort from the later Millennials.
Consider some data points from a 2006 article published in the Oberlin Review:
College admissions offices, employers and marketing companies are going into a frenzy over Generation Y, a cohort of individuals characterized as Generation X on steroids. Generation Y includes those born between the second half of the 1970s and the first half of the 1990s, although some experts believe these dates to be debatable.
This blog defines Gen Y’s birth years as 1979-1989. But the Oberlin dating is close enough, considering that 2006 was too early to see how rapid the rate of cultural change would be, and thus the necessity of shortening generations to ten years.
Now consider what Oberlin considers defining Gen Y ephemera.
Some demographers view the 1986 Challenger explosion and the fall of the Berlin Wall as the first major events that older Generation Yers will remember, separating them from Generation X. The fall of the Soviet Union and the First Gulf War serves as the midpoint and the 9/11 terrorist attacks as the endpoint. The current Iraq War is the war this generation will likely identify with along with other recent occurrences such as Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean Tsunami and the Columbine High School shooting.
The current demographic model defines Millennials as those born between 1981 and 1996. That gives a median birth year of 1988. In relation to the milestone events above, the average Millennial according to the current wisdom wouldn’t have been born at the time of the Challenger disaster. He would have been 1 when the Berlin Wall fell and 3 at the start of the first Gulf War.
These reference points illustrate how the media and academia have moved the generational goal posts over the years. All of those events occurred too late to have a formative effect on the average Millennial by the current definition.
Other important events include the death of Princess Diana, the return of Hong Kong to China, the O.J. Simpson trial, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Y2K, anthrax scares, the SARS epidemic and the avian flu.
Again, ask a self-identified Millennial if he remembers any of these news stories, and nine times out of ten, you’ll get a blank stare.
Contra the Current Year dating, Rudolph Harrier applies my generational model to the Oberlin touchstones:
Let’s consider the defining events given in the article, using the average birth years of 1984 and 1995:
-Challenger explosion: Gen Y 2, Millennial not born
-Fall of the Soviet Union: Gen Y about 5 or 6, depending on how you count it, Millennial not born. Gulf War is about the same.
-OJ Simpson Trial: Gen Y 11, Millennial just born
-Death of Princess Diana: Gen Y 13, Millennial 2
-Bill Clinton Impeachment: Gen Y 14, Millennial 3
-Columbine: Gen Y 15, Millennial 4
-Y2K: Gen Y 16, Millennial 5With the exception of the Challenger explosion (which the article says is something that would only be remembered by older members of Generation Y) all of these are events which would have shaped the childhood of someone born in 1984. But for someone born in 1995 only Y2K and maybe Columbine would have made any impact at all.
The discussion of pop culture tells a similar tale. For example, it stresses AOL instant messenger as a major means of communication. But AIM flourished around 1997-2003. For someone born in 1984 that would mean ages 13-19 which does make sense for a time to be online. But for the person born in 1995 it would correspond to 2-8, meaning that he would have only seen the very tail end and probably would have been using Skype instead. Similarly techno(i.e. big beat and EDM) is cited as a big part of musical culture. But both of those genres went into severe decline by the early 2000’s. Likewise the last kid’s show mentioned is Pokémon, which aired in the US in 1998 (13 for Gen Y, 3 for millennial.)
It’s also said that in 2006 “the younger members of Gen Y are getting ready to ship off to college” which only makes sense if Gen Y ends at latest around 1991 or so.
Every time I stumble across an article about Gen Y from pre-2010 it always lines up with your description and not the modern one. I had similar experiences with “Gen Jones.” To be honest, at first I thought you made up the name in order to fit another “lost generation” into the scheme. That is, until I happened to find a message board thread from about 2003 where the people were eagerly talking about Gen Jones and how it is clearly different from being a Baby Boomer.
The evidence keeps stacking up. Generation Y, not the later-born Millennials, followed Generation X. All three were understood as separate cohorts until revisionist demographers and Madison Avenue hucksters found it more expedient from a marketing perspective to memory hole Gen Y.
To immerse yourself in a thrilling read informed by the cultural influences that shaped Gen Y’s youth, check out my award-winning Soul Cycle.
