Talk:Generation X

Years are incorrect - Generation X started in 1961 or 62

I was born in 1964. My both of my Grandfathers fought in World War II, my parents were born in the generation that was part of the boom of babies born during or just after World War II - Baby Boomers. I am most definitely NOT in the same generation as my parents, I am of the generation that followed the Boomers.

The first time I heard the term "Generation X" was about 1983 or '84 and I was in college. I was absolutely a member of the group that was being referred to. I doubt you'll find many people born in 1964 (or '63 or '62 for that matter) who will claim membership in the Baby Boomers.

I think that almost all sources on the topic prior to the mid 90's will prove this definition. Here are two from this WIKI's own sources:

https://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/2008/01/generation_x.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20041024071508/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100500 2601:182:B81:2EF0:5D26:924D:EECC:D223 (talk) 15:08, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

I am sympathetic to 1960-1964, as their first opportunity to vote was in the 1980 Carter/Reagan election, and Reagan did color the generation to be more conservative than Boomers or Millennials. But that is WP:OR.

The biggest hurdle is redefining Boomers to be other than 1946-1964, the range firmly held by the vast majority of sources.

The article presently does go through in some depth the etymology and evolution of the term. At most, a phrase of that could be copied up into the lead.

Another possibility would be to draw an analogy to Xennials (aka Star Wars generation -- born 1977-1983 coinciding with the release of the Original Trilogy) and create a new section that describes the cultural overlap between younger Boomers and GenX. But again, that would require finding some WP:RS to avoid WP:OR. Michaelmalak (talk) 15:58, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

I discovered the phenomenon I was describing has already been given a name, Generation Jones. So I created a new sub-section.

Generation Jones has its own article, and was originally defined as "as those born from 1954 to 1965 in the U.S.". Dimadick (talk) 21:34, 28 November 2023 (UTC)

I was born in 1964, my parents being from the previous generation, and I certainly identify with the Baby Boomer generation, not Generation X. I'm not sure that there is a definite cut-off year and I think it might vary geographically anyway. It might be better to take that into account. WyrmUK (talk) 00:36, 2 February 2024 (UTC)

I'm not sure who comes up with the cut off years for generations. I mean its almost arbitrary and no one seems to want to be part of the generation before or after.

Interestingly Billy Idol's band was called Generation X and they formed in 1976.

Idol was born in 1955 and the band was named after (apparently a 1964 book called Generation X by British journalists Jane Deverson and Charles Hamblett which contains interviews with teenagers who were part of the Mod subculture.

I actually think Generation X is anyone who was a teen from the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s meaning people born between 1960 and 1976.

Why?

Well people within any generation, despite being individuals, have to have something significant in common they all shared (or didn't share). People from the late 50s to the early 70s have the same cultural touchstones ... if for nothing else they didn't have tabletop computers or didn't grow up with computers as pre teens and teens. The kids born in the 80s all grew up with computers more or less.

Even this is sloppy - I actually think it is kids born between 1960 and 1969. It seems to me to have been coined to define kids (teens and pre teens) who were around in the late 70s. Franko velebitan (talk) 00:09, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 January 2024

ADD LINK TO MILLENIAL WIKIPEDIA PAGE (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials) TO MILLENIAL COHORT REFERENCE IN FIRST PARAGRAPH OF GENERATION X PAGE HMLandry (talk) 18:50, 18 January 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: The Millennials article is already linked in the first sentence. Squeakachu (talk) 19:17, 18 January 2024 (UTC)

Please note the following

There are evidence from multiple other strong sources saying the Generation X cohort were born between 1965 and 1983. I have those sources listed in my documents on Work 365, but before using them on Wikipedia there needs to be consensus because there is major controversy over the end date of the Generation X cohorts' birth dates. Can we have discussions about whether to include sources like that here on this Wikipedia, please everybody? I need consensus prior to including controversial references here on EnWiki. Angela Kate Maureen Pears 15:34, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

Note that that would shorten the Millennial generation to just 13 years (1983 to 1996). I think it would be appropriate if there are sources that establish socioeconomic reasons why 1980-1983 are more similar to 1965-1980 than to 1983-1996 to include this in the "Cusps" section of the article. Michaelmalak (talk) 16:20, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

This changing the years stuff really needs to stop. Maybe you wouldn’t have to lock the editing if users didn’t keep putting their opinion in the page. Generations always spanned 20 years, and that’s the way it is. Gen X IS 1965-1964. Anything else is OPINION and recent. That can be added, but instead, you’re putting opinion as the consensus and saying facts are “vandalism”.

This is a quote from an older book and Harvard studies on generations.

‘Those years would be 1945–1964 Boomers, 1965–1984 Gen X, 1985–2004 Millennials/Gen Y. The 20 year scale has been the standard, it is only recently that others have come out with varying scales.’ 173.69.7.200 (talk) 22:34, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

Such a source could be used to expand upon the timeline of understanding of what Gen X is -- part of this timeline is already in the article.

That Harvard study says Millennials ended 2004, rather than the 1996 that is accepted today. Michaelmalak (talk) 22:45, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

Nobody today would call a 14-year-old a Millennial. Michaelmalak (talk) 22:47, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

They are born in a period of fifteen years, but dominated music for 26.

This is just kinda ridiculous. This whole entry should be relying on scholarly articles. 2604:3D09:D78:1000:7A9F:15B2:D016:1D91 (talk) 05:29, 8 March 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 11 March 2024

People born in the latter half of the Baby Boomers from the mid 50s to the early years of Generation X are sometimes called Generation Jones SoFusstBoutFacts (talk) 03:03, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

References

Yes, that is mentioned here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X#Generational_cuspers Michaelmalak (talk) 12:43, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

 Already done Information already in article. Liu1126 (talk) 13:37, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

What about...

...Yuppies, Dinks, Goths, New Romantics and the lot? Also notable was the shift from the "hippie drugs" like marijuana and LSD (with a short resurgence at the end of the 1980s due to the trends of House music, Balearic and New Beat) to cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines and other synthetic drugs. Many Gen Xers were also more concerned with environmental issues leading to the founding and growth of Green parties and organizations.

The neoliberal politics of the 1980s in many countries had also a profound effect on the Gen X in the 1990s and 2000s as many Xers embraced the politics and behaviours in later years (especially when entering their 20's and 30's), most obvious with the decline of social structures and behaviours from the 2010s on. 2A02:560:59BD:2E00:A1F3:BB27:DFD3:7C3B (talk) 09:39, 21 March 2024 (UTC)