There was a time when generations were simple. Baby boomers were born after the war and could afford houses and a family of five in a one-income household. Millennials were the nostalgic but depressed generation that killed the diamond industry to grind and buy avocado toast. And Gen Z? Well, Gen Z was supposed to be a nihilistic antidote comprising everyone born between the late 1990s and early 2010s.
But somewhere between social media trends, impromptu political uprisings, and people referring to their emotional breakdowns as “character development”, Gen Z stopped being just an age group and transformed into a vibe—a state of mind.When most people think of Gen Z, they imagine an army of chronically online, slang-spitting, therapy jargon-speaking individuals who can identify a micro-aggression faster than millennials can find something new to be nostalgic about. Truth be told, the stereotype isn’t exactly inaccurate.
But reducing Gen Z to simply being sensitive or terminally online misses the point. What makes Gen Z unique isn’t the vocabulary. It’s the ability to look straight into the abyss and reply with a meme.
It is a generation that has inherited climate anxiety, inflation, severe political instability, and just the general and constant threat of global catastrophe. Yet, they still somehow find a way to make all of it funny and bloggable. Yes, even a war and nation-changing protests. Living the meme life
