As I see it | ‘Brazen boomers, lazy millennials’: how generational profiling heightens Covid-19 othering
- With the pandemic heightening intergenerational antipathy, it’s worth remembering that scholars say there is little evidence for these divides
- In fact, they are just another form of prejudice – something Covid-19 has already brought far too much of to the surface
I am from that batch of ’90s kids who for much of our adult lives have endured being labelled a “strawberry generation” – apparently we bruise easily, are narcissistic, bristle at the slightest hurdle in life and are exceedingly entitled.
Many of those guilty of this particular form of generational profiling, I am told – and can attest to personally – are baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964.
I am pretty sure contemporaries have abundant anecdotes of sitting through “you, young people” sneers from older family members, friends and colleagues.
I personally recall a recent conversation (outside the newsroom, so boomer colleagues, please don’t fret) in which the person lamented the ill effects of the yawning generational divide.
Then, they immediately segued into how millennials and Gen Z were too keen to “run before they walk” in their careers. Of course, the young’uns are far from fault-free.