Tom Brokaw, Your Generational Label Needs to Go

7 Generations and 170 Social Scientists Say So...

“Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.” ~ George Orwell

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Courtesy Tara Jacoby

Here’s how I introduced After 21 Club in the very first post of this newsletter:

“Picture 20’s and 70’s, 30’s and 60’s, 40’s and 50’s….each of us with a unique perspective. Each wondering, each sharing, each crying, each laughing. Crazy stuff. Fun Stuff. Cringe-worthy stuff. Serious stuff.”

But Tom Brokaw had to go and divide everyone up. With labels. Generational labels. So I’m mad at him. (Not really. I love Tom Brokaw. He has just been credited by some as the originator of generational labels)

He’s not the only one. Seven generations of people have been labeled. Apparently others wanted to jump on the “name that generation’ bandwagon. I think they should stop.

How are we going to mix and mingle when we are secretly looking at someone and thinking, “Oh, they’re the slackers”. Or “they’re the narcissists.” Or “they’re the snowflakes.” Because each generational title comes complete with a description. And those descriptions seem to be going downhill.

So Tom, back in 1998 when you wrote “The Greatest Generation”, you may not have realized how your little Wheel of Fortune - fill in the blanks game would go. (although Wheel of Fortune was around then…).

Here’s what happened:

• The Greatest Generation (1901 - 1925). Also called the G.I. Generation and the Swing Generation🕺. Known as patriotic and hard working.

• The Silent Generation (1926 -1945). Rule followers.

• Baby Boomers (1946 - 1964). Also called the Rock and Roll Generation and Generation Jones. Goal oriented hippies (I might have combined two separate thoughts here…)

• Generation X (1965 -1979). Also called Baby Busters. Known as slackers….hey I just did the research….don’t yell at me! And labeled ‘X’ because they didn’t want a label…..hmmmm.

• Generation Y (1980 -1994). Also Millennials. Tech dependent, entitled, and narcissistic. See what I mean, these descriptions are going downhill fast.

• Generation Z (1995 - 2012). Also called the iGeneration. Steve Jobs would be so proud. Known as the most tech dependent group. They have also been called Homelanders, Plurals, Posts, ReGen. Too early to tell what will stick.

• Generation Alpha (2012 - 2025ish). The first generation born 💯in the 21st century, they are children of Millennials. Also called Coronials, which thankfully fizzled out. It was a play on COVID. Really? Who does that to people?

It isn’t just me standing up for the ‘No Label’ movement. Philip N. Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, College Park has turned my whining into results. He says, “Generation Labels mean nothing. It’s time to retire them.” He also wrote an open letter to Pew Research asking them to stop using generational labels. The letter was signed by 170 additional social science researchers. Now that’s power.

As examples of generational label flops, Philip notes that tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams are a generation apart. Venus (1980) is a Gen X while Serena (1981) is a Millennial. Meanwhile, Donald Trump (1946) and Michelle Obama (1964) are both Boomers. (no need to get into a fight over this one….it’s just an example!) 😂

Cohen’s point is that generational labels don’t really mean anything. To add to his point, in a Pew Research survey most people didn’t select the correct generation for themselves even when they were shown a list. 🤣

Tom Brokaw can’t ‘Unwrite’ his book. (He probably wouldn’t want to anyway. It was amazing.) But we can stop the madness. So all of us….20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s (and more) can just be humans together. That sounds just fine to me.

💬 I’d love your thoughts on generational labels. Do you like having a label? Do you think that labels restrict the interaction among us? How do you feel about having conversations with people of different ages? Is there value in sharing ideas and experiences?

Now that we know we don’t have to be divided, we can get on to the business of having fun together!

And about Tom Brokaw - thank you for The Greatest Generation. “Tom Brokaw touched the heart of the nation with his towering #1 bestseller The Greatest Generation , a moving tribute to those who gave the world so much -- and who left an enduring legacy of heroism and grace.”

Coming Up Next Friday….

• Visit the original Top Gun House

• Let’s cook up some fresh shrimp straight off the fisherman’s boat and make our own cocktail sauce

• Holiday travel crazies

• A ‘summer’ read rec

Wherever you are, I hope life is sunny. 🌞 ❤ Heather

Whatever your generation, if you’d like a little sweet retreat where Friday meets you on the way to little pleasures…..I hope you will Subscribe to After 21 Club. You’ll get a little treat in your Inbox each Friday.

Special thanks to those of you who are subscribing to After 21 Club. After 2 years writing Kindness Magnet (and still going), I’m excited to start this community of generations. I hope it’s a place where we can come together to share ideas and recommendations for leading happy lives. Please invite your friends to join us.