"Gen Y" is the term people categorize my generation as. Y-that's an interesting letter. But, what's more interesting is what the New York Times had to say about this generation on May 24,2010 courtesy of writer Judith Warner. She believes my generation is spoiled, entitled and entirely narcississtic. Do I agree with her? To a certain extent yes and to a certain extent no. I believe that not every young person grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth.
I know I did not with a firefighter father and secretarial mother. I always worked minimum wage paying jobs while in school. I also NEVER encountered a teacher who "cuddled" me through tough times I had in school. Quite the opposite, I encountered many teachers who were apathetic to my learning and of those in the class.
But, on the bright side it did make me appreciate the dedicated and sincere ones :) But, I digress.... So, I'd like to think that whatever shred of self-esteem I had came from knowing I was driven to learn and that no one could take my education away from me. Judith Warner makes also some other interesting assertions in her article.
She believes that many graduates don't want to work long hours and will simply quit a job they hate because good ol'mom and dad is there to catch them. First, off I think she is only partly right. I have many friends who do not work at all but, choose to live off their parents. BUT, and here is the important part ... They come from very wealthy families. My one friend comes from a very wealthy family but, hasn't even attempted to look for part time work in over three years. This person happens to be a girl.
This might surprise some people because I believe, there is a stereotype that the modern woman of the 20th century is very independant and self-sufficient. But, this is not always the case. Some women even though today is 2010 are still waiting for their "white knight."
So, my last question is should women fall back to their old ways of letting us, men be the sole providers in relationships? Or should women keep up with the times and be the self-sufficient Alpha women we know they can be juggling both the demands of work and home?
If generation Y is anyone born from around 1976 to around 2000 then yeah were pretty spoiled just given the technology we get to grow up with. Imagine what the next generation will be like...
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question... Let's bring it back! Provide! Screw Women's Lib! I'll stay at home and cook and clean. Let my man bring home the bacon. ;)
ReplyDeleteNah- On the real, I think of an ideal relationship having all the financial, household and child rearing responsibilities shared, non gender specific. It just depends on the situation. I know a lot of men wanna be the bread winners though and wouldn't be down with their woman making more money then them...
I think this Judith person is genralizing everyone to fit her nice theory. I had to build the little that I have today, so did my mom. Life in not a neat little handout. She must be blind to the news to see all of those people struggling.
ReplyDeletei think today's reality is that men might initially be stung if the woman brings home more cash, but that will change real quick when they see just how much that extra money helps in paying bills and having extra cheddar laying around.
ReplyDeletenow I'm right on the cusp of Gen X and Gen Y. they say Gen Y is a generation of MTV and stuff like that. I remember seeing David Lee Roth and Hot For Teacher and thinkign that was the coolest thing in the world.
Interesting if this generation even has an identity yet. and yes, they are more coddled. Baseball games without scores. Everybody wins! WTF?? the quicker you accept you lose in life, the better you are in dealign with it later.