Essay

Hook:

Gen Z ain’t the craziest generation…

Intro:

As a member of Gen Z, I’m sure you have heard some of the stories our parents and grandparents used to tell us. Stories that usually started with “Back in my day we used to…” and then they would tell us the craziest stuff like walking 50 kilometers a day to school and back, how color never existed back then, or how the good days were without TV, video games, and the internet. How did they entertain themselves? Well, I went and did that for you. We’ll be looking into the things that defined them, such as lingo, fashion, pop culture, and many more. So let’s get into it, yeah?

Body:

The “Silent Generation” (1928 – 1945)

This generation was perceived as “silent” because of their quiet and hardworking nature. They were known for keeping their heads down and grinding through the Great Depression and World War II. Every generation had lingo, a way of communicating, and this gen used words like “Groovy” and “Daddy-o” the same way we would use “cool” and “top-boy.”

In terms of fashion, this gen was quite conservative. In their defense, it was due to the economic constraints of the time. The common way of dressing was utilitarian, with men wearing suits and conservative hats and women wearing dresses and gloves.

You may ask, “They didn’t have the internet, how did they entertain themselves?” Good question, big man or woman. The most popular medium at the time was radio, and the top musicians were Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra. “What!? They didn’t have movies and TV?” They did, but it was still new. The most popular movies and TV shows were “The Wizard of Oz” and “I Love Lucy,” respectively.

While the rest of the world was experiencing World War II and the Great Depression, South Africa was in the beginning stages of apartheid as the National Party had just been established. Globally, there was a boom in suburban living and traditional family values.

The “Baby Boomers” (1946 – 1964)

After the wars and the time people spent being depressed and silent, there was a boom in economic prosperity and growth. This boom made everyone “excited” and resulted in a boom of babies. This was also the time when hippies spawned into the world.

Contrary to popular belief, hippies weren’t just people that preached about peace and got high on marijuana and shrooms. Just like the previous generation, “groovy” was the word used to describe something as cool. Hence, for someone to be labeled as “groovy, man,” one had to dress in tie-dye shirts, mini-skirts, and bell bottoms.

This is also the generation responsible for creating "Star Wars," "The Godfather," "The Brady Bunch," and "Jaws." Iconic stuff, man. Just like how Central Cee has the current music game in a chokehold, so did Elvis Presley. And this was the first generation to see the world in color, so unfortunate for the Silent ones, they didn’t. Color TV was a thing, that must have been mad. On top of the boom of babies, so did cars and household appliances as they became more affordable.

This is when the U.S. faked the moon landing, and South Africans experienced a massacre in Sharpeville in the 1960s. Socially, the sexual revolution and anti-apartheid movements took an uptrend. Also, the shift in gender roles became a thing.

“Generation X” (1965 – 1980)

Imagine being called the generation without an “identity.” Deep, but they were called this because they came after the well-defined “Baby Boomers.” They were also referred to as the “latchkey generation” because of the high number of working parents and people who spent time alone after school.

I personally don’t agree with the perception that they lacked “identity.” Why? Because of the lingo.

Their vocabulary consisted of words such as “gnarly” and “rad.” This is the generation that emerged with Rock and Roll and Hip-Hop, and to show everyone else that they were in the loop, they had to dress a certain way. The popular fashion at the time was ripped jeans, leather jackets, and Doc Martens.

Run-D.M.C. and Metallica had the music game in a chokehold, "Star Wars" was still going strong, and then "The Simpsons" came along and started this weird thing of predicting the world’s future events. Everyone fell in love with an alien called E.T.

It seems like things were looking good because personal computers became a lot more accessible. Video games became the new headache for parents all over the world, with the most popular consoles being the Nintendo and the Atari. Cable TV became a thing, with the emergence of MTV.

Globally, people realized that marriage was a scam, and divorce rates spiked. Suddenly, people realized that a proper work-life balance was a priority.

The “Millennials” (1981 – 1996)

This is the generation that started the diversity movement. They were also the ones that were techsavvy, and the name originally came from them being born around the same time as the new millennium.

This generation used words like LOL and Bae, which means “before anyone else.” I didn’t know that. Did you? It was during this time that humanity started to drip on a higher level. Skinny jeans, athleisure wear, and branded kicks were the hottest things to wear on the streets.

Eminem began his life-long journey of pissing everybody off, Michael Jackson was making people faint by merely appearing on stage and standing still for 10 whole seconds, and Beyoncé had a whole generation of girls running the world.

Conspiracies got crazier with the release of "The Matrix" in 1999, and "Harry Potter" sort of gained nerds a little acceptance from society. I, too, grew up with these movies, and so did a lot of you, probably not Gen Alpha. "Friends" and "The Office" were also quite popular. I have never watched them, but I'm grateful for the memes they gave us.

While South Africa was rejoicing as they had just gotten the freedom it deserved with the country adopting democracy in 1994, the rest of the world was shaken by the massive bomb (literally...kinda) that was 9/11. You know, the plane crashed into a pair of twin towers in the U.S. That event had a great impact on the Great Recession later in 2007 till 2009.

Around this time, the internet became something that people started to pay attention to. With smartphones, high-speed internet, and apps like Facebook and Twitter forming the many online communities that formed social media as a whole.

People decided that marriage and parenthood should be delayed, and a huge focus was placed on education. This resulted in more economic opportunities, skilled workers, an increase in urbanization, and a growing middle class.

“Gen Z aka ama2k” (1997 – 2012)

Possibly the generation that started this madness we’re in right now and also the most diverse generation in all of history. We’re also known as digital natives because most of our existence was based on the internet in one form or another.

It’s really hard to classify our lingo because it seems to evolve every year with new terms and words added to the dictionary. However, some universal words include “lit,” “fam,” and “yeet.” I don’t know anyone that uses that word, I only know of a rapper named Yeat.

Speaking of rappers, they are probably the biggest influencers of our time, besides actual influencers. You can see that in the current fashion scene, which is heavily influenced by hip-hop, also called streetwear. A huge emphasis is put on designer brands as that’s what rappers wear. You see the influence. However, due to the rapid changes in fashion, it’s hard to stay relevant in the public space.

Drake (may his soul rest in peace) is one of the biggest stars in the world. He shares the spotlight with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Chris Hemsworth. See the diversity in that? There’s an actor, an R-A-PE-R, and a GOAT of football. Oh, I forgot one “R” when spelling “rapper.” My bad.

Then we have the MCU dominating the box office, with “Avengers: Endgame” surpassing "Titanic." Everyone and their mom saw that movie; it was that big. Oh, another correction: they were dominating. I guess it ended with “Endgame.” Besides that, we have Netflix dominating as well, giving us bangers such as "Stranger Things" and "13 Reasons Why."

Oh, and we had COVID, which was…yeah, to call it insane is an understatement. So many people died, and the conspiracies made everything worse than it was. We had people coming out with information claiming that it was planned. The elites were trying to decrease the population to curb climate change. If you ask me, the activists were the ones pushing this agenda, and here in South Africa…no one took this COVID thing seriously, and maybe that’s why we have this crazy flu. It went monk mode and achieved another form.

“Gen Alpha” (2013 – present)

Loading…. That’s all I can say.

Joking… Even though this generation is young and still developing, they are arguably more digitally native than us. I mean, they were literally born with “iPads,” as we often say. Most of their culture is influenced by social media, with platforms like Instagram and TikTok being the biggest culprits.

Their lingo consists of words like “skibidi toilet” and whatever brain rot nonsense they came up with.

Their choice in dress code is geared towards comfort and eco-friendly stuff, if that makes sense.

Essentially, almost every aspect of these kids’ lives has been centered around technology. They eat, breathe, think, and learn using technology. It’s mad.

Honestly, it would be interesting to see how they grow up and assert their place in the world. Will they do better or worse than us? I mean, our parents already don’t like our generation that much because of how cooked we are. They are more cooked than us, honestly. Oh shit… I’m already turning into them.

Outro/conclusion:

That’s it, fam. I hope you enjoyed the journey through time and that. I certainly learned something, hope you did as well. Till next time. Bless.