Remember former Gawkerer Doree Shafrir? She has an essay in Slate this week about her (and my own) generation: the cohort born during the Carter presidency who are now 30 to 34.
We identify with some of Gen X’s cynicism and suspicion of authority—watching Pee-Wee Herman proclaim, “I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel,” will do that to a kid—but we were too young to claim Singles and Reality Bites and Slacker as our own (though that didn’t stop me from buying the soundtracks). And, while the proud alienation of the Gen X worldview doesn’t totally sit right, we certainly don’t yearn for the Organization Man-like conformity that the Millennials seem to crave.
Shafrir’s thesis is that the “Jordan Catalano Generation” is its own entity, distinct from both Generation X and the Millenials. Still, though, she spends most of the essay drawing the lines between us and the Millenials. This is easy enough — the Millenials are terrible beast-children. No one wants to associate with them.
But personally I’ve always thought of myself as Gen X — yes, the tail end of it, but firmly Gen X nonetheless. I even remember seeing Reality Bites in the theater! So, my fellow cynical alienated Catalano Generation comrades, what do you think? (Answer: “Whatever dude, I don’t care.”)
