Generation WARS

Skinny jeans, sexy selfies, celebrity icons … With opinions diverging and society dividing down generational lines, we asked a Gen Z, a Gen X and a Gen Y (millennial) to weigh in on today’s hot-button topics

TALKING ABOUT MY GENERATION

Three women, three age brackets, three strong stances.

Maeve Galea

THE GENERATION Z

BORN: 1997 – 2012 (aged 9 – 24)

GENERATIONAL TROPES: Dancing on TikTok. Saving the planet. Hating millennials.

Kathryn Madden

THE MILLENNIAL

BORN: 1981 - 1996 (aged 25 – 40)

GENERATIONAL TROPES: Reading Harry Potter. Buying houseplants. Being snowflakes.

Dilvin Yasa THE GENERATION X

BORN: 1965 – 1980 (aged 41 – 56)

GENERATIONAL TROPES: Growing up as grunge-loving slackers. Minding their own business ... unless they’re a Karen.

It seems there’s conflict brewing, so in the spirit of a good debate let’s start with an opening argument. What makes your generation superior?

GEN Z: We grew up on a diet of High School Musical, memes and (more recently) #MeToo. As the first generation of digital natives, we’re never far from our smartphones and while having all that information at the tip of your fingers can be overwhelming, it’s also empowering. That’s right, we know what you did last century and we’re here to fix the mess you made. Climate change, BLM: you name it, we’ve marched for it – and all in our school lunch break. As a generation, we’ve found a collective voice and we aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo and demand change.