I, like many of you reading this, belong to Generation Y, which is more commonly known as the Millennial Generation. There isn't much agreement on who exactly belongs in this generation. Some say that anyone born after 1990 is a millennial, while others would extend that back to the 1980s and others would say that the cut-off point is the year 2000. The range that I most agree with puts anyone born between 1981 and 2000 in the Millennial Generation, and I'll tell you why I most agree with it later on.
For argument's sake, let's use the range of 1981-2000 as the definition of the Millennial Generation. That means that a 15-year-old and a 35-year-old can be considered to belong to the same generation. Now, if I were to put a 15-year-old and a 35-year-old in the same room, gave them a VCR and a VHS tape, and asked them to put a movie on for me – who do you think would have an easier time doing that? Or if I gave them both a cassette player or a beeper, one of them would be looking at them as if they were foreign objects and the other would say something like, “Wow, I haven't seen one of these in a long time!”
It's hard to believe that they could be in the same generation. But it makes sense when you remember that the Millennial Generation is unique thanks to an invention that changed the world forever: the computer. People born after 1981 have never lived in a world without computers. Even though people in their 30s are familiar with older technology that teenagers might not be, they are still unified by the computer. What makes millienials different from, say, an 8-year-old, is that while computers have always existed in their lifetimes, they have not always had access to one. In this context, the word “millennial” unifies us 15 to 35-year-olds, giving us a name that makes us stand out from the generations before and after us.
Now, here's why I don't actually like the word “millennial:” it's more often used in a context that gives it a negative connotation. Millennials are lazy. Millennials are obsessed with immediate satisfaction. Millennials have it easy. Millennials feel entitled. Millennials are superficial. Millennials couldn't survive without their cell phones. Millennials don't know what it's like to struggle. Millennials don't have any social skills. Millennials complain too much. The world is going downhill and it's all thanks to these Millennials.
Too often I hear negative things like that. And I know that this is not new; older generations have been insulting the newer generations for ages. I'm sure even Baby Boomers were given a bad rap from their parents' generation. But most generations don't have a name such as “millennial” to be used against them. What unifies us is being used against us. Instead of it being a word that we can proudly use to describe one of the most unique generations, and rejoice in that being a good thing, it is a word that separates us from the rest.
When marketing companies, TV networks, and just people from older generations in general ask in desperation, “How can we appeal to the millennials?” I cringe. We are not hard to understand as if we're some alien race from Star Wars. We want what everyone else wants: authenticity.
I'm not here to defend my generation. I know we are not perfect. I just want us to be recognized for the diverse group of people that we are and as people who are capable of being more than our stereotypes make us out to be. “Millennial” means we were alive and old enough to see the turn of the century. We were born during a time of change and raised during a time of technology. There might be something a little scary about that – none of us know what the future holds for us – but there's no need to be scared of millennials. I don't want to do away with the word “millennial” because, as I said, it unifies a large, diverse group of people. What I hope for is for us all to one day use the word “millennial” fondly, as we look back on all of the things that have been accomplished by our generation.
