Acalanes Class of 1980, Lafayette, CA., looking quite preppy and light years from the groovy 1970s. These folks were born 1962-1963.
© 2025 The Jennifer Chronicles: Are You There, God? It’s Me, Generation X. All rights reserved. This content is the intellectual property of the author and may not be copied, reproduced, or distributed without written permission.
The Baby Boom and the Baby Bust
Let’s start with the numbers. The Baby Boom, by any honest measure, ended in 1961. After peaking in 1957, U.S. birthrates declined sharply. The postwar wave of fertility crashed hard, yet the cultural concept of the Baby Boomer plodded on for a few more years, sweeping in people born during the tapering end of the demographic curve.
In the years following the post–World War II Baby Boom, U.S. birth rates declined sharply, ushering in what came to be known as the Baby Bust. Those born during this demographic dip, roughly between 1961 and 1981, were initially labeled the Baby Busters.
Illustration of an 8-track tape player my brother Billy sent me while he was stationed in Okinawa.
🧭 A Generation Defined by Absence
I touched on this in the most-read post on this blog, Who Is Generation X. Baby Buster sounds kind of badass, but the label was telling. We weren’t named for what we brought to the world, but for what was missing. Fewer people. Less optimism. A fading sense of promise.
The name reflected more than a population slump. It captured a generation raised in the wake of rising divorce rates, economic turbulence, latchkey afternoons, and cultural whiplash.
1961-1964 Problem
The misalignment of those born between 1961 and 1964 is part of the problem. Generational boundaries were retrofitted to census charts, not shaped by lived experience. Demographers drew the Baby Boomer cutoff at 1964, but life doesn’t unfold in neat statistical increments. Cultural memory doesn’t consult actuarial tables. And neither the Social Security Administration nor astrologers get to decide when Generation X begins.
That decision, obviously, falls to me, author of the longest-running Gen X blog on the planet.
(Bahaha. I jest. Sort of.)
🌼 Not Woodstock, Watergate
The people born between 1961 and 1964, like my brother Billy, don’t belong in the same cohort as Woodstock, draft cards, and Kent State. They didn’t fight in Vietnam or watch it unfold in real time. Most of them were in kindergarten when the troops began withdrawing. They came of age in the 1970s, not the 1960s. Their adolescence wasn’t flower power. It was power outage. Also known as rolling blackouts and gas lines. Also, there was disco, Atari, Watergate and divorce.
Illustration of a 1980 ski jacket similar to the one the woman in the second photo (eighth from the left) is wearing. Currently offered on Etsy by Two Vintage Hens.
🪖 Too Young To Die in Vietnam, Too Old To Mourn Kurt Cobain
When the draft ended in 1973, the youngest draftees were born in 1955. That means everyone born after that year never faced compulsory service in Vietnam. By the time Saigon fell in 1975, those born in 1961 were 14 years old. They didn’t protest the war. They watched it wind down on the evening news.
This matters, because cultural generations are shaped not just by what happens, but by what happens to you at a formative age. Gen X is defined in part by the aftermath of the Baby Boom. We were handed a faded version of what the Boomers protested for or against. That experience begins with the tail end of what some call Generation Jones, but what I would argue is better understood as the first wave of Generation X.
🍄 No Haight-Ashbury
Those born in 1961–1964 entered adulthood in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were in the first wave to come of age under Reaganomics. They remember life before cable TV, but also the novelty of MTV. Also, they didn’t drop acid in Haight-Ashbury, they dropped quarters into Pac-Man and Space Invaders.
Although Gen Xers didn’t face the draft, the AIDS Crisis stalked our coming of age. We buried many friends when we were young. If you were spared this chapter and are surprised to learn this it’s largely because in the early days of the crisis there was very little public mourning. There was also very little government support.
Generation X’s peak years of sexual exploration were saturated with confusion, grief and fear, all driven by AIDS. This is very different than the Boomer experience of free love. Someone born in 1961 turned 20 in 1981, the year the CDC first reported what would become known as AIDS. Throughout their twenties, Xers were shadowed by death, perhaps none more than those born in the early 1960s. So, we didn’t go to Vietnam but we lived in the war zone of AIDS.
H.R. Pufnstuf was a part of the early childhood media diet of first-wave Gen Xers (1961-1966). Mid-wavers also caught reruns. It’s part of that hazy Saturday morning TV memory bank that shaped a whole cohort.
A plastic molded bank designed to look like H.R. Pufnstuf is available from Monogram Direct.
No-Man’s Land
Gen-Xers born between 1961 and 1964 have long been stuck in a kind of generational no-man’s-land. They’re too young to feel like part of the 1960s, and too old to relate to the slacker and grunge caricatures often used to define Gen X in the 1990s. They’re overlooked in cultural shorthand, miscategorized in demographic reports, and missing from the emotional heart of both the Boomer and Gen X cohorts.
It’s Probably Too Late To Be Saying All This
It honestly feels like I’m writing about this 20 years too late. Does it even matter anymore? There was so much I wanted to say when I started writing about Gen X nearly 20 years ago. I just couldn’t because my income was controlled by Baby Boomers who hated this blog. They hated it so much and I was silenced by their disdain for Generation X.
So, I wrote a lot of stuff like, Vintage Nikes All The Rage As Brand Turns 40. Eek. while I waited for time to pass and the freedom to speak the truth to arrive. I’m still only half way there. Now here I am at 57, advocating for people who are between 61 and 64 years old. But, what I’m really advocating for is history and legacy. We need to get this right.
🧭 Generation Jones Detour, Gen X Fully Claimed
The label Generation Jones was created by Jonathan Pontell, a cultural historian and political campaign. It was originally coined for a marketing campaign targeted at Americans who were born between 1954 and 1964. It was a worthy endeavor, but Gen Jones has never stuck.
Meanwhile, Gen X has aged into its identity with tremendous pride and clarity. Thanks in large measure to our children (and their memes), we are no longer forgotten. There are so many people writing about Generation X now, it’s hard to believe we were once so nameless. But there was a time, and not that long ago, when I was one of only three bloggers writing consistently about Generation X. I did so not as a historian, but as someone who lived through it. And, I actually have a degree in history, but it’s not my life’s work.
✊ So-Called
Have you noticed that Gen Xers no longer preface their cultural critiques with “I’m a member of the so-called Generation X.” Nope. It’s just Gen X now. We don’t apologize for our cynicms anymore and we own our weird childhoods, latchkey loneliness and analog adolescence. It is both happy and sad when we refer to ourselves as feral. To be honest, I rather enjoyed being raised by wolves.
So, thank you for reading this far. These pieces take time and don’t go viral. They truly are meant for the few. So, here’s the catch. By insisting that Gen X begins in 1965, we’ve allowed that earliest, most formative wave of our generation to be orphaned. It actually pisses me off when people born in 1979 want to set our Gen X elders adrift in a generation they don’t belong to. It is personal, but it is also academic.
An illustration of the shoes my dad bought Billy and me at the Army Surplus Store in West Texas, 1977.
📞 Cultural Touchstones
Let’s consider cultural touchstones for a moment. If you were born in 1961, your high school years lined up with Blondie, the Cars, and the Clash. Someone born in 1964 would have been 20 when The Breakfast Club came out, two years removed from high school. My brother was born in 1962 and he’s the one who called and said, “You have to see this movie. The entire thing takes place in a high school library.” I thought it sounded so boring, but I watched it and I learned so much about my brother. We were five years and worlds apart. He was in the Marines and I was in college, but we were members of the same generation. We were not our Silent Generation parents or our Baby Boomer sisters. We were different. Still, Billy would never quite feel like he belonged. Not a Boomer. Not an Xer.
Nevertheless, he grew up worrying about finding razors in his apples when he went Trick-or–Treating. He was wildly upsupervised throughout his childhood and youth. In his early twenties he watched the Challenger explode just like me, not as a child, but not as parent either.
Hate to admit but these were actually quite a treat in our house. Swanson’s TV Dinners. The fried chicken was delicious. 😋
Between Wars and Benefits
Finally, Billy joined the Marines during the years between wars and great benefits (1977-1985). He was too late for the Vietnam-era GI Bill and too early for the Montgomery version. He served without the educational safety net that shaped generations before and after.
Please refer to my 2015 post, Why Gen X Men Are Dying and overlay it with everything I just said. I’m very pissed about what happened to Billy, forgotten on the front end but still served during the very Cold War.
⚠️ Is This Conversation A Waste of My Time?
Generational boundaries might seem trivial to some, but these lines affect how we understand ourselves. They shape public health data, marketing strategies, political outreach, and even mental health trends. The so-called “Deaths of Despair” rising in midlife are hitting this 1961–64 cohort really hard. They were invisible then, and they’re invisible now.
I wish we could fully reclaim these years once and for all, not as an annex or an afterthought, but as an integral part of Generation X. Gen X didn’t spring fully formed in 1965. Please. It emerged in the ashes of idealism and the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement, anti-war protests, flower power and a youth-driven cultural revolution.
What followed was a cooling silence. Idealism burned out and what was left in its wake was disillustioned Gen Xers with 10 percent mortgages and 8 percent student loans.
Those born in the early 1960s were in that wake, blinking in the dusk, removing their TV dinners from the oven. Swanson fried chicken, chewy mixed vegetables and spiced apples. There was never enough. And Boomers always seemed to have always enough.
All of this!!! Born towards end 1961, never felt like a boomer! My brother got out of the draft for Vietnam he was born in 1949… We were in upstate New York for the summer during Woodstock he went I was a little kid. All of your timestamps…things that happened during those times… I so relate to. We weren’t boomers at all! Never felt like one and your post validated our feelings! Thank you
You’re welcome!! =)
thank you beyond words for your work on this. i was born four days before 1964 & have forever declared that in no way am i a boomer. this has become an issue in my marriage as my husband is a true boomer & likely b/c it upsets me, he enjoys “teasing me” by including me in his generational group, although clearly he knows i am not. i embrace our differences; thanks to your article, he finally admits to understanding it–wow! we have an amazing ‘2000 son–great year, except it means he was at university during covid. that had to be more frightening for him than anything i’d been through at that age. we are all three highly educated professionals, & i love that we each have our own separate generations 😉
best, k.
I like the movie “Dazed and Confused”..That was ‘76 and it seemed like I knew everyone of those kids…I graduated in 1982 and what’s interesting is how much the styles changed in those 6 years…We had 501 Levis, Topsiders, painters pants, Campus polos, chukka boots, Ocean Pacific t shirts, Sunbritches and haircuts with parts in the middle…We weren’t 70’s and we weren’t 80’s.
I remember when owning a pair of Painters pants in lavender was the pursuit of my entire existence. All those things you listed brought back the best memories. Oh, to have had an iPhone back then and recorded everything and everyone I loved…
Thank you for this. I knew I was a gen x. I was born in late 1964. I get everything you wrote. It made feel warm and cozy that someone understands and took the time to research and write this. Brought back some good memories and also some rebelliousness. A lot of my close friends growing up were born between 1963 and 1966. The collective group I hung out with on weekends when I was like 9 to 22 were born between 1961 and 1967. Also I had a pair of sneakers like the the ones in your cool drawing.
I continue to be amazed by the reaction to this post. It makes me so happy. =)
Thank you! I was born in 1964 and always thought I was GenX. I have gotten into arguments with other people born in the early sixties who say we are Boomers. I tell them to look it up, that it changed. SO frustrating. I never identified with Boomers at all.
You’re so welcome, Rue. I’m still slowly working on the Zine about all this. It’s been fun putting together but progress is slow because I works so much. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment.
I absolutely believe that the original Gen X starts around 1961. What’s really laughable are the mid to late 1970’s born gatekeepers who really don’t do any true research and just go by what some media outlet may regurgitate. However, in my experience, it seems like Gen X years might be too long…what i mean is the 1960s and early 1970s born seem very different from those born mid 1970s and onward. Maybe I’m wrong but I’m not so sure the youngest Gen Xers are real Gen X? Thoughts?
I was born in early February 1960, second to last of 9 kids. I have never felt like a boomer. My older siblings (born 1949-1957) have all the boomer qualities. I’ve always identified more with Gen X. My parents divorced when I was 8 and my mother always worked. We were all latchkey kids. I ended up having 2 kids by age 21. One in 1978 and one in 1981. They both are definitely GenX, even the one born in 81. I ended up having a third in 1992 and he is Millennial through and through.
You’re one of those rare ones who is Gen X and has kids who are Gen X. This has always fascinated me. I know there are probably many others out there with this same family dynamic, but the only other one I’ve come across is the author Sarah Smarsh who wrote Heartland. She and her late mother are Generation X.
I’m 1962 and always wondered why ALL my best friends and boyfriends were (and recent ones continue to be) 1963 or younger. Now I know! Relate way more to Reaganomics and the AIDS crisis than to Vietnam and Woodstock. Thanks for putting these feelings into words.
But I must confess that I did LOL the first time my Gen Z kid looked at me and said, “OK, Boomer 🙄”.
OK, Boomer – the worst!! Thank you for your comment, Becky. I’m so happy this posts resonates with so many people. Makes me feel like 20 years of blogging wasn’t in vain. lol
Okay-finally! Thanks for your written views-validating my very sentiment on the subject, which has been a pain in the-well, you know!
‘64 here-November born, 2 months shy of ‘65, the “start” of Gen x. Single Mom raised, which got me a key in the mailbox to let myself in after school.
Never felt like a boomer, but also had read about demographics as a kid, and learned that I was Gen x (it had included those 64 born). I was this said feral, wild child!
Demographics has risen in popularity, and with that I’ve been rudely included in the boomer base. True to Gen x form- scrappy as I am, I refuse to swear allegiance to those Happy Days Joanies and Richies, and would (proverbially) shank anyone that tries to lock me into that cage!
Cheers to you, and to all those in this og x’ers, pioneering fore mofos, who were not forgotten but who were downright un acknowledged- I salute you!
💖Suzanne
Love this comment so much!! “Pioneering fore mofos” might be the most accurate description I’ve heard yet.
You all were out there living the Gen X life before anyone bothered to name it. And no one who had a key in the mailbox needs a demographic chart to tell them who they are.
Great read, thank you! 1962er here. I found your spot-on insightful article because I finally got around to searching “when did 1962 get changed from GenX to Boomer?” It had been bugging me for some time because I clearly remember in the 80s the GenXers cohort included the early 1960s. We were not always lumped with the boomers.
PS Love the tag for us, as one commenter suggested, “Generation Huh?”
This rather recent switching up of the years is quite annoying. A movement led by a notable moronoic mass of Gen Xers. God love ’em. lol.
Hello Jen,
Found your post through Fb: The Uranus-Pluto Conjunction of the 1960s Astrological Group.
I’m born Dec. 6, 1965.
Thanks for your layered continuity of time, traced events, growth patterns, changes of emotional environments, and economies. Punks grew out of a frustrated Hippy movement. I grew up watching the idealism of the Hippie Era alongside cartoons on TV. Felt an affinity for their connection to Mother Earth, anti-establishment, freedom of the body, and freedom to explore [legally-sanctioned] sexuality.
I came of age with David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, & Elton John.
Gen Xers, value their outsider-ness and what lives on the fringe. The outer edge space is where creativity, longing, and risk enter into the excitement and willingness to endure a world that does not necessarily care about you, though shows up to be a special place when you care for it.
My values often feel lonesome, out of place, and pretzelled into shapes that are hard to maintain. Quite often, it’s heartache just being in this world.
Beautiful to read you comment, Tricia. Thank you. I especially love what you wrote about the outer edge where creativity and longing exist. Reminds me of my 7th Grade Reader, Deep Where the Octopi Lie. Thank you for letting me know how you found this post. It has become the most popular and commented on in the 19-year history of this blog! Think I’ll check out the group!
Jennifer, thanks for bringing this up. I came across your article and site by doing a search for “Gen X Beginning in 1961.” (I’m a 1963 Gen X-er.) For that past decade or so, I’ve been seeing the definition of Gen X shrink smaller and smaller. The goalposts keep changing. The first I’d ever heard of Gen X was in my late teens, reading in a circa 1981 Seventeen Magazine that those of us born 1961 and later were Gen X. Then, sometime in the 2010s, I came across a mention in another article saying Gen X began in 1964. I stubbornly refused to give up my Gen X title. Then a few years later, I was hearing where Gen X started in 1965. And this year, I’m seeing articles saying Gen X starts in 1966!!
I refuse to be categorized with the “Boomer” generation, as many have tried to do lately. My older siblings and older cousins were born in the late 1940s and decade of the 1950s. They reflect the typical “Boomers” in that virtually all are tech-challenged. My generation used tech, whether a calculator or primitive computer, in our last years of high school. I was always the one who did the setting up of VCRs, electronic clocks, etc. for the older people in my family. I’m still the tech trouble-shooter for them, whether if it’s setting up their new smartphone and laptop, installing or upgrading their software, setting clocks (for some I just show them how to do it), and so on. And from the first, my employment always involved computers, whether it be job-site data entry in the 1980s or work-from-home web programming in the 2020s. This sets me vastly apart from the Boomer generation.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has witnessed this contrast.
Hello, Rochelle – Thank you for your comment! The boundaries are very clear to anyone who spends 15 minutes reviewing touchstones and collective experiences. The first wave Gen-Xers led the way into a new generation that has been unlike any other in the history of the world. I’m very proud to belong to a generation that begins in 1961!!
I’ve been talking about that cusp, and I have claimed GenX anyhow. But I will seal this fact in the vault and while still claiming some GenJones I will sit happily in this box. Most recently I was saying that I have many values of the Boomers, but I play all of the instruments of GenX. A friend told me “Who are you kidding? You are as GenX as money is digital. To the bone.”
That’s awesome. Gen X knows Gen X, right? I do like the phrasing though, “but I play all of the instruments of GenX.” Starting with THE RECORDER! lol
Thank you, thank you for this post. My husband was born in ‘64. We went to high school together, went separate ways, met back up 20 years later and married. We grew up in the lonely suburbs and lived through the fear, the music, the feral early 80s. He got a his first job at a restaurant when he was TWELVE. His mom dropped him off after school during the week to do food prep in the kitchen at a restaurant. My family took me there to celebrate my 13th birthday. He was probably washing dishes. We met later in the halls of high school when I was 15. I’m 60, he just turned 62. I have been trying to explain to him he’s not a Boomer for years. My Generation Jones argument fell flat. This morning, I read him your blog post and he said ‘Wow. Ok. I get it now.”
Maybe I’m too emotional about this but when and how we grew up and the economic and socio-cultural winds of that moment forever shape how we live as adults. We just don’t really take notice which is sad to me. Anyway, thank you for your research efforts and common-sense explainer regarding the true Gen X years that still affect so many.
Thank you so much for this comment. Really touched me. He gets it now. That means a lot!!
Pew’s redefining of “Boomers,” “Generation X” and “Generation Y” are laughable. When I was going to high school (graduated in 1999 and turned 18 that year [born in ’81]), I was specifically taught that the class of 2000 (those born in ’82) were the very first of the Millennial cohort as they would reach legal adulthood in the next century. Also, they would be the first class to have lived with the knowledge of the AIDS virus their entire lives. I continue to adhere to the classical definitions of each generation (Boomer 43-60, X from 61-81, and Y from 82-early 2000s). It makes no sense to have a 19-year timeframe for Boomers, but only 16 years for the subsequent two that aren’t even long enough to cover infancy to legal adult status. The original definitions spanning 18-21 years makes the most sense. (And I agree with the above comment that 1964 is not “Boomer” – a high school senior when MTV debuted is nothing like the high school senior who heard the news of JFK’s assassination over the intercom.)
So in summation, Pew – although it’s considered legitimate – is GARBAGE.
Don’t get me started about Pew. They make me so mad. lol. And, right! Can’t be a Boomer if you were in high school when MTV debuted.
Thank you Jennifer for such an amazing and “age affirming” article 😊. I found this article when I did a search for: Why does Gen X date not start earlier? This in reference to guidelines stating that Gen X starts at 1965 after I had dinner with a couple of friends and had a discussion about boomers etc. i came home and looked up a graph that showed age divisions of all the different generations. I am def NOT a boomer! lol. I was born in 1964. I have been married to a boomer for almost 42 years. He was born in 1949 and I know first hand the differences. His interests, movies, music, hobbies, favorite meals and memories of living through defining historical events etc are so different than mine and I have learned so much about the world from him and his experiences all so vastly different from mine having been born in 1964. I have three older brothers 12, 10, And 7 years older than myself. I have some memories of their musical tastes and high school band performances, but truly feel I was an only child or second first born. We didn’t share the same interests of games and doing things together etc because of the age difference. By the time I started grade school, the oldest two brothers started college. The summer I turned 10 they both were married and gone. Now that I am older, in talking with them, they don’t have any memories of my formative years, only of when I was a baby and toddler. I always saw them coming and going with their busy school days and social life. I have. orr memories with the youngest brother of the three. We swam a lot every summer and went skating at the skating rink every weekend. Went to movies regularly. Thank you for helping our generation stand out and having our own place in history’ for all the amazing things that make us Generation X. It is really great to have our own historical place “in the sun”. To not be mooshed together at the end of the boomer generation riding on their coattails without the recognition that we are different in our own right and generation. We have had immense pleasure and joy raising our three millennials and watching the beginnings of their generation unfold. And now…….another new generation to experience as it unfolds with our grandchildren.
I am enjoying watching younger generations unfold, too. My kids are Gen Z. You mentioned skating rinks. I cherish my roller skating years so much. Some of the happiest days of my entire life – rolling around the rink super fast and doing the Hokey Pokey on skates. All skate. Skate counterclockwise. Couples skate (oooh la la – big deal in 4th grade – lol). Skate backwards. I love our generation. Obviously. Wish I had more time to write all the things in my head and heart. Thank you so much for the comment. THrough this post it feels like I found my tribe within the tribe of the one and only Generation X.
Ice Castles! 1978. I skated and skated when that movie came out on a pond in the neighborhood, always aware of where the ice was thin!
I loved Ice Castles. I have always wanted to skate on a pond. I don’t have a bucket list but if I did that would be on it.
1962 here, w three older Baby Boom siblings, up to eight yrs older. Father is a Korean War vet; his older brothers were WWII vets. Don’t discount earliest TV media memories: Vietnam, Mr. Rogers, Diver Dan, Jack Lelanne (w his german shepard, Happy). In contrast, my 50’s siblings & spouse remember Howdy Doody and Leave It to Beaver. Mom started college in ‘64, and was student teaching by ‘68. Civil rights, bussing, MLK & Bobby Kennedy deaths. Also burgeoning world and USA population, environmental concerns. Indoctrination starts before 6 yrs old…no need to wonder why front edge GenX didn’t have babies! With available birth control and abortion, most of us were sexually active early on and didn’t deal w AIDS until the mid to late 80s. We couldn’t afford children, once the late 70s and largest recession (other than the Great Depression) hit and held on, into the early 90s. Cocaine was an expensive Boomer habit. Drugs in high school peaked w my brother’s class in ‘77, just before us. Bank deregulation, savings and loan failures. Double digit mortgage rates. The late 70s Equal Rights Amendment and family tax break proposals didn’t pass. At the same time, then LGB became heavily involved in the women’s movement and alienated heterosexual women (like Betty Friedan) who dropped out of activism and full on into work. 60s, 70s, punk rock and 80s music…all great. You are correct, grunge and Kurt Cobain aren’t us. Neither are the front edge Boomer Beach Boys. A-lot front edge GenXrs are college dropouts/couldn’t afford it; others finished, but didn’t work in their chosen fields ever, or at least until the mid 90s. Tech savvy, 2++ jobs for decades, 100 hr work weeks, few promotions as positions were often filled by fat and happy Boomers. Frustrating work landscape spurred many of us on to do more with what we earned, to work for ourselves, and to become successful entrepreneurs. Most generations have challenges. My older retired siblings realized too late how capricious they could be, and how good they had it. GenX are survivors; they know how to work, and make it work. Proud of my peers.
I’m so proud of us, too. What you just described is the thesis I’ve been arguing throughout this post and comments. That front edge Gen Xers took it all on the chin. The first to make that sharp and sometimes deadly curve into a new generation, a new world. In this world even if you did graduate college you couldn’t find a job and you certainly couldn’t pay back the outrageous student loans with interest rates 8 percent and higher. Thank you for your comment. I
Born in 1963, I have for years called the 1961 to 1964 the ‘disco’ generation…too young for the good music and too old for later good music. My high school years were full of bad music. But yes, we have been mis-classified.
I like the Disco Generation. I feel like I lived through some of that, too, even having come along in the last quarter of 1967. Men in satin pants. It was so strange, right? But, it’s part of our collectiev experience. Eventually, came flannel and Levi’s. Thank God. LOL. But, I still have affection for the disco days…
I think Gen X starts with The Beatles in the UK and the cultural revolution they brought. I was born prematurely Oct 1963.
As someone who was born in 1981, I was always considered a Gen-Xer. So when Pew came out with that bullshit in 2018 lumping myself and fellow 81ers in with the millennials, I was highly offended. I can not relate to the millennials whatsoever. I can remember a time when there was no social media and grew up playing arcades in the malls and neighborhood stores. Have you jenx67 challenged Pew on this slander? I need your feedback.
Maybe I will challenge them! Write them an analog letter on my scented stationery. haha! They make me so mad.
Thanks for the blog, Jen. Born in late 1963. I don’t relate to being a boomer and hate that I get lumped into generational group despised by Millennials (my kids are Gen Z). I graduated from college in 1986 and grad school in 1990. Tuition had risen by then and our student loans had high interest rates under Reagan. Those of us who’ve funded our Gen Z’s kids’ college have paid historically high tuition rates. Millennials talk about Boomers having financial privilege- No one talks about the impact of the current economy on late boomers/early Gen X who are funding their young adult kids in the current economic landscape. No, I couldn’t pay my college tuition by working at McDonald’s. It’s just infuriating to me.
Thank you for writing this. Born in 1962, I was 6 when the Boomers were getting high at Woodstock – they were never my group. We were the latch key kids who were raised by the television, and mostly left to fend for themselves.
You’re so right I was also 1962. Never ever related to boomers, always felt like I didn’t fit. Then I read something about Gen Jones and the name just didn’t work I felt more connected to Gen X. Regarding Life and generational experiences but Firstwave Gen X makes sense. All I know is I’m proud of my generation and loved growing up then.
I was born in September of 1961 to parents age 41 and 42 with 3 Boomer siblings that were 8-13 years my senior. Their biggest influence on me was taste in music: I grew up in a household and neighborhood where Motown and the British Invasion blasted from radio stations and turntables. My dad retired from the Army in 1967. Mom went from stay-at-home to working in 1967. At that time, we lived with my grandmother. By 1968, back in Germany with my parents and youngest sister, I became a latchkey kid. Into and throughout my 30s, I became critical of the Boomers, even while I still applied the designation to myself. I still feel as if I am “on the cusp” between generations. I appreciate this blog.
Born in 1962. I am Generation X. One of the first. The generation that set brand new trends, and were able to try all kinds of things without resistance. Always outside till dark , summers of freedom, the skate rink and the Mall. My Dad worked hard and my Mom was the best . She handled everything at home . Dinner at the kitchen table every night and wonderful world of Disney on Sunday. Generation X ‘s are understanding, and brought to the world many new views and creative inspiration. We are so cool. I’m not a late boomer, I’m not a Jonser, I AM X, 2962. JENIPHER
And, also your name is JENIPHER! What could be more Gen X? LOL. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Thank you so much for this. I relate. Totally! Born in ‘62, raised in rock but immediately in love with grunge when it appeared. I’ve always felt the between everything, like a Joneser. Like I don’t fit. But I fit into the cultural touchstones of Gen X so well.
And you always will fit b/c like I just replied in another comment, that first wave took the first hard turn into a new world. And, it was NOT the representative of the Boomer experience in any shape, form or fashion.
I was born in March of 1965. And I feel like my classmate’s older siblings had way more life experiences in common with us than they did my early boomer in-laws that witnessed Vietnam in real time. 1961 just makes so much more sense than 1965.
Vietnam is really the dividing point. It was an experience that loomed larger than life and anyone claiming to be a Boomer who can’t relate to that war and draft cards and watching the TV to see if your number was coming out – they’re not going to really think you’re a Boomer. Because they’re Xers! =)
I remember reading about my lifestyle in a newspaper in the 1980s, as a Gen X; living in a basement, riding out yet another recession and yes, AIDS and Cold War politics made it a scary time (there was also fun to be had, but on little money). I’ve never identified as a Boomer and resent being lumped in with a group of people with whom I don’t have very much in common, from an economic, social, cultural and political perspective. Thanks for clarity!
Thank you, Erinn! A recent NY Times article cited the years 1965-1980 but at least acknowledged many people do not agree on these dates. I appreciate you stopping by and leaving a comment!
Jen thank you for this post, it totally awesome! Like Lisa above, I believe Gen X started in 1961. I was born December 20, 1964 and it pisses me off to be included in the Boomer generation. So half of my high school class of ’83 were Gen X and half Boomers? I don’t think so. I do not identify with the Boomer generation at all! When generation discussion come up I always say I am Gen X and if pressed, just lie and say I was born in ’65. I’m not letting missing a generation by 12 days make me a Boomer.
It’s so infuriating, right? I’d think the Boomers would be annoyed that anyone born 1961-1964 would dare claim they were part of their generation. They can have their generation. LOL. And, we’re keeping our first wavers – the most Gen X of Gen X.
Agree 100%. I, too, 1964 and am Gen X! It bugs me to be pigeon holed in a place I don’t belong.
Excellent article. This was my introduction to your work, a happy discovery for me.
I found this because I am increasingly concerned that Gen X is deliberately overlooked and ignored when generations are mentioned. All I hear about are Boomers, Millenials, and Gen Z. I was searching for articles specifically because I had just discovered someone calling themselves @*****boomermama who is clearly too young to be a boomer.
It got under my skin!
If we don’t step out into the light of day (instead of silently giving everyone the finger from a distance) who else can?
Gets under my skin, too. But, it’s honestly not as bad as it once was. I know a certain mayor, born in 1979, who insists he’s a Millennial. Good luck with that, sir. LOL.
lol my wife 1979 and me 1964 so true wanting to put me in the boomer gen. However I think it stems from sharing my 5 year old memories and before during the sixties.
My memories as a 6 year old to 13 of the seventies.
Sixties and seventies memories I feel causes my wife to shadow my memories of teens and twenties in eighties and early nineties. I feel this because those decades are more out of reach for my wife to grasp. We 1961 to 1964 are Gen X or our own gen for all the reasons here.
Thank you for understanding us. ©
lol my wife 79 and me 64 so true wanting to put me in the boomer gen. However I think it stems from sharing my 5 year old memories and before during the sixties. My memories as a 6 year old to 13 of the seventies.
Sixties and seventies memories I feel causes my wife to shadow my memories of teens and twenties in eighties and early nineties. I feel this because those decades are more out of reach for my wife to grasp. We 61 to 64 are Gen X or our own gen for all the reasons here. Thank you for understanding us. 🙂
Both Gen Xers. Oh, the joy!
13th generation (ancestors arrived in 1635).
Silent generation parents (1937 and 1941).
Latchkey kid.
Parents divorced (after I left home).
Born in late December 1963.
Graduated High School 1981.
Military 1984. Cold War.
Got an associates degree 1990.
Until about 2016, GenX was 1961-1981.
National Geographic did a series about GenX, and they used that date range. My life coincides with virtually every GenX common experience, but marketers have tried to gaslight us into thinking we are Boomers. It’s a big lie! Thanks for speaking out.
Thank you, George. I’m just getting started. =)
I was born in 64 and I never felt like a boomer. I felt like my parents were boomers. I was the youngest and the only girl. I didn’t even know about the Vietnam war. I grew up outside Boston and both my parents worked and after I was 8 years old my 2 older brothers and I were on our own all week. We had total freedom. I remember dinner every night at 5 and having to be home when the streetlights came on and bed at 9. Those were basically our only steadfast rules. I had an awesome childhood but about 80% of it was unsupervised. I would be gone all day in the summer and didn’t worry about food or water even on the weekends when my parents were home. I was never afraid to walk the streets alone and I really don’t think my parents worried about me.
You have said perfectly what so many others have said. At least for now the Gen-X Reddit is acknowledging the 1961-1981 birth years. I hope the zine I’m working on will be well-received by those insisting the start is 1965. It’s so silly for all the reasons you mentioned. Also, because trends are experienced on the coasts first, anyone born in the early 1960s and living on the coast is like a Super Gen Xer. lol. Thank you for stopping by Ellen and leaving a note.
I literally just branded 1961-1964 Gen Xers. They’re Super Gen X. It’s genius. lol
It’s interesting that you should say that Gen X begins in 1961 because I could have sworn that was considered the beginning about 25-30 years ago.
Then someone got the idea to push Baby Boom up to 1964 because that was the last year that over 4 million babies were born in the U.S.
You are exactly right, Debbie. It’s been in the last five years. It’s very annoying. Thanks for stopping by! Long live Gen X, 1961-1981.
Thank you SO much for this article! I thought I was losing my mind because I was so sure when they first came up with Generation X it was 1961 or even 1960, then somewhere down the line the “experts” started changing it. I said no way am I in the same generation as my brother born 14 years earlier who enlisted in the army for the surveying program to avoid getting drafted for Nam. I remember as a tiny girl saying “look – hippies!” when I saw long haired denim clad young people. And later at 11 or so getting a P.O.W. bracelet and then watching the American soldiers returning on T.V. Also I grew up on the east coast. If someone asks my age now it sticks it my throat so I’ve taken to saying Early Generation X. Now I can say Super-X. I am bookmarking your page to keep coming back!
Super-X! That is brilliant, Gloria. It so perfectly describes what I believe about the first wave of Generation X. What a proud label: Super Xer.
I am so glad I came across this article. I have said for YEARS that the generation marker changed at some point because I can remember in elementary school filling out a form that was gathering statistics and at the beginning of the survey you checked if you were A) born in 1960 or earlier OR B) 1961 or later. I teased my sister who was born in 1960 that she was in an older generation than me (born in 1962). I am so thrilled to see this article which confirms for me that sweet memory ( I lost my sister in 1986)
I’m so sorry about the loss of your sister at such a young age. I’m all for extending Gen X to the lone 1960, cruelly lumped in with the Boomers. LOL. THank you for your comment, Earl!
You absolutely nailed it. I was born in late December of 1961 and graduated HS in 1980, so 99% of what you touch on was the experience of us both in the early 1960s. Like your brother, I joined the military and the education benefits were abysmal under the VEAP program where service members had to contribute $1 dollar for a $2 match with a 8,100.00 ceiling. It meant I served 4 years, then took out over 10,000 in student loans by the late 80s. Personally, I’ve never felt any connection to Baby Boomers, especially entering the workforce at the end of the Reagan era. One of the first essays about those born in the early 60s I remember reading that really detailed so much of our Early Gen X history “The New Lost Generation,” written by David Leavitt for Esquire Magazine in May of 1985. A key quote from this: “We hit our stride in an age of burned-out, restless, ironic disillusion. With all our much-touted youthful energy boiling inside, where were we supposed to go? What were we supposed to do?” It is also important to remember the book “Generation X” by Douglas Coupland was published in 1991. Coupland himself was born in late 1961. So the media was aware of the early 60s kids not fitting the boomer narrative and income ladders, they simply looked at birth rate data and called it good. Generation Jones is actually a way to look at the changing demographics and technological advances for those who feel part of two generations, where fluidity and collective consciousness to older and younger siblings made sense in straddling the divide. Great article. Thanks for the work.
Thank you for pointing that article out to me. I have never come across it and if I did I don’t remember it. Of all the things I’ve said about Generation X over the years, the birth years beginning in 1961, with a strong nod to Gen Jones beginning in 1958, is the thing I’m surest of all. As I mentioned in a previous comment I’m working on a special GenXine – an homage to the first wave of Generation X, 1961-1964. I could honestly cry. lol. =)
1962 here. I remember reading Copeland’s book when it came out and relating to it as “my generation”. Incidentally, my parents, like many of my peers, were depression babies that became adults after WW2 and were sandwiched between “The Greatest” and “Boomers” . Their cultural identity is more about who they’re not than who they are. During the recession and energy crises of the 70’s, my parents rolled with it, adapted, adjusted, and reinvented–they learned that when they were kids and passed it on to us.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I was a first born child born in 1961 and I am absolutely not a Boomer. Years ago I was complaining to someone that I didn’t fit anywhere because I wasn’t a Boomer and I wasn’t really GenX either. I felt more like “Generation Huh?” and that people my age should band together and get t-shirts with our slogan: “Hey, what did I miss…?”
Generation Huh is a great title for this subject!!
Thank you! I finally feel seen! I always did think being “subsumed” into the Boomers was just wrong. Very insightful article.
I agree with everything you wrote. Born in June of 1964 and it never made sense to me to be called a boomer and my brother who is 14 months younger than me was a Gen X. We had the same childhood!
I was born in 1962 and I just wanted to say thank you. I never related to the boomers. So happy that so many others out there recognize this!
Thank you, Leslie. The early 1960s were always the popular timeframe. 1965-1980 has only gained traction over the last five years on social meida, and specifically, large Facebook groups managed by people who don’t read or understand history or cycles.
I was born the same year as your brother. I am the youngest of five. My oldest sibling was eleven years older than me. Think I was an oops. I agree with not feeling like I belong to the boomers. I grew up in the late 70’s. Got my license in 79. Graduated in 80. It was the generation of thin ties, Wall Street bros and cocaine. AIDS took a good friend of mines life in early 92. That’s how long it took for any research to be done on finding any meds that would help with this epidemic. But it was a time where driving with a beer was frowned upon but wouldn’t necessarily get you a stay in jail or even a ticket if the cops were local. We used to go to a freight train yard as teens in hs for football victory parties. We would burn old rr ties and drink beer. The local cops would come by at midnight and break it up. Nobody was arrested, they had all done the same thing when they were in hs as well. We did have some fun times, before cell phones and social media.
Great story, Dee. As I’ve stated so many times – The early Gen Xers are the most Gen X of Generation X when it comes to the collective persona. They got it all in spades.
I finally feel like I made it to the club with the cool kids. Not to sound exclusive, but rather a little excluded because no group seemed correct for my experiences. I’ve always felt way too young to be a boomer. Being born in 1962 I felt too old to be a mid 60s Gen x, but you have it nailed down. I feel like you’ve just helped me through some kind of super drive therapy session here! My brother is 12 1/2 years old than me and born in 1949. I grew up hearing his music so I’m kinda eclectic on music, but I listened to Journey, Foreigner, Fleetwood Mac and even some disco like Donna Summer and Patrick Hernandez. I am proud to be in the “trailblazer” big sister years of Gen X or however we name us. Foxy Lady from the Class of 80. Here’s to all of us finding a place now!
I’m so glad, Donna. And, I totally understand what you mean about divine therapy session. Many, many years ago I spoke at a conference about Gen X. A Silent Gen mom came up to me and told me she has been in therapy for years trying to understand her children and why they didn’t get along with her. She was crying! She said after learning about Gen X during my talk everything clicked and made sense and she called it Divine Intervention and could not wait to talk to her kids and reconcile. That meant so much to me and I’ve carried her words with me as inspiration for years, as I will yours. I think I shared in another comment that I’m doing a zine (GenXine) on the first true wave of Gen X beginning in 1961. I know it will make a difference especially when folks see the pictures I’ve gathered. Should come out in November or December.
Spot on, except for the too old to mourn Kurt Cobain part. Born in 64 / definitely mourned Kurt.
So did I! Kurt’s death devastated me. As did John Lennon’s and Harry Chapin’s. Jennifer, this article has floored me. Knocked my socks off. May explain why I’ve felt discounted so many times in my life. I truly hope your revelations gain traction. I feel seen in a way I haven’t before. (Born in May 1964) Tears in my eyes writing this!
Ahh, Ruth! I’m so glad to read this. This is definitely the most popular article I have ever written and that’s saying a lot because I’ve been writing about Generation X for 17+ years. I’m looking forward to the next Zine I’m publishing on this – probably out in January.
I was born the middle of 1960. It’s the definition of excluded- again.
I think about 1960 babies all the time and how they must feel!!
My brother was born in ,1959. 3 years older than me. My Brother was a Gen X . Sometimes people mature at different stages and my brother experienced the same greatest generation of all times this far. Gen X was full of hope still. We had big dreams and innovation. We energized the world with new prospectives and we were aloud to express our ideas and beliefs.
Born in 62, I really identify with the Gen Jones idea. I was heavily influenced by my older sisters born in 56 & 58, they weren’t really Boomers, either. My little sister (69) and I can relate on a lot, but times were definitely changing from when I was growing up to when she was.
I was born at the end of 1960 and have always identified as GenX, probably because I spent so much time in higher education that when I finally left it my peers were all younger.
I was born at the end of 1960 and have always self-identified as a Boomer, perhaps because my sibs are older and I grew up immersed in their cultural experience. The comments about AIDS are spot on. We were the last teens not to have to think about dying from our sexual exploration and we had no idea how lucky we were.
The delayed grief of those who lost loved ones to AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I visit the page most days to read the stories. It’s hard to believe so many people died alone, buried loved ones alone — suffering through enormous stigma. =( Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment.
I was born in 64, I recently turned 61 and for whatever reason I’ve been nostalgic of late. I’ve always related to Gen X, it shaped who I am and I’ve posted some fond memories on FB only to have Boomer friends criticize me for seeing the world through “rose colored glasses” and younger friends express their horror at our “traumatic upbringing”. Sure, a lot of bad stuff happened but we were kids, resilient ones at that and we chose to make the best of things. I’ve tried to explain how it was to those before and after but all it seems to do is instigate argument or revulsion from them…Whatever. Personally I think it was the best generation ever, we were fully aware of what a mess things were but we were the witnesses to “Everybody wants to rule the world” not the perpetrators. Sure we were sarcastic and abrasive, we seemed like we didn’t care about the “important” stuff to the adults but we had vastly different priorities. We stuffed all the trauma and embraced the good times. I’m not a slacker and I’m sure as hell not a victim, I didn’t just survive, I thrived and I wouldn’t trade that time in my life for anything. I’ve been feeling kinda lost, not quite here or there but you put into words exactly what I’ve been feeling. I know where I belong, Thanks Jen.
Thank you, Scott. I’ve heard from so many people born between 1961-1964 – as I’ve said many times before – the most Gen X of the Gen X. I’m not done beating this drum. I’m only getting started. =) I have a few ideas in mind, too. My next GenXine is going to be on the Silent Generation parents, but the one after that will be devoted to those Gen-Xers born between 1961-1964.
So much of what you wrote captures exactly how it feels to be caught between generations—misunderstood by Boomers, misjudged by younger friends. But you said it perfectly: you know where you belong.
Born in October of 1962, I finally feel heard and known. Thank you. I’ll be a new follower!!
Thank you, Cyndi! It’s unfortunate that Facebook groups declaring the wrong years have gained so much traction. They follow years established by Social Security, not history. Anyone born in the early 1960s is Generation X.
Such a great post, thanks! Born in 1963, my two younger siblings are solid GenX, and that experience is how I grew up too. I don’t remember JFK’s, Robert Kennedy’s, or MLK’s death. I remember nothing of Viet Nam except when my uncle came back from “the war” and he brought us all gifts. I still have a ceremonial drum he gave my brother. I was into Kiss, Queen and The Bay City Rollers all at the same time.
My sister is 7 years younger and I will say her 80’s experience was much different than mine, but we listened to the same music, saw the same movies, and have many of the same cultural touchstones of the 80’s.
I’m not interested in staying behind some arbitrary line between the generations. I know where I fit. And it’s not that I don’t want to be identified with Boomers, or think they’re bad. Hell I love Boomers! Boomers created the music we listened to. They created the video games we played and the cartoons we watched on Saturday morning. They created the World Wide Web and MTV! They protested war, were idealistic and have lead important, life changing innovations. I appreciate the boomer generation. I’m just not part of it.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I love the way you put it. That’s exactly the tension people born in the early ’60s describe. What you said about remembering nothing of Vietnam except your uncle coming home is such a generational tell. That’s the difference between being a child during an era versus being a young adult in it.
Love your generosity toward Boomers even if they’ve driven me crazy in the workplace. lol. They created the cultural backdrop we grew up with and that cultural handoff is what Strauss and Howe wrote about — one generation creates, the next one comes of age to it.
Also you’re spot on about the shared touchstones of the 80s with your sister. That’s why so many people born in the early ’60s through the late ’70s feel such a strong kinship. We don’t always fit neatly behind the census lines, but we know where we belong!
Excellent! Every single touchstone you list rang like a gong for me. Totally.
Great stuff! You capture the sadness and the goofy fun. And the AIDS tragedy. Keep writing, I will follow!
Thank you for this – I’ve felt like I don’t belong in a club that actually represents most of my experiences of growing up. Born in 1961 I was a latchkey kid, out into the world during an economic downturn after college and then mortgage at over 10%:(( we didn’t have it all, and at uni we had to face the loss of friends to Aids. How we are considered part of a group that has nothing that relates to us cullturally or economically has always upset me. So yes…it’s important this recognition.
I’ve always thought 1961-1965 were quintessential GenX! I feel bad that they’re shunned from generation identity. It’s so stupid. I’ll never stop beating this drum. Thanks for your comment!
Thank you for all you do, Jen! Also following you on Substack.
A guy named Shannon Lynn (he meets the qualifications for a GenXer under the Strauss-Howe definition, high school class of 1981) has restored and remastered almost all of the Casey Kasem American Top 40 episodes from the time that the show came on the air in July 1970 until Kasem was replaced by Shadoe Stevens in 1988. His work can he heard here, where they alternate playing 1970s and 1980s shows with no commercials.
https://www.iheart.com/live/classic-american-top-40-6545/
Thank you, Brett, and thank you for passing along this fantastic link. Many years ago, probably around 1984, Casey did a long distance dedication to a girl they called “Mystery.” I really want to find that episode. Can’t wait to check it out.
I think it is about where you fit in and who you associate with not the year you are born, at least for those who are on the fringe of a generation. 66 here and I have a brother who is 4 years older than me but I hate to tell you he is a boomer through and through. When he started out I would have called him a Gen Xr but these days he is fallen in with the boomers and seems to love it.
At least once a week I ask myself is this generation stuff even real. LOL. It’s all so subjective. I learn something new every day. For example, it occurred to me the other day while just reading comments on this post on Facebook that what part of the country you’re from could really make a difference. A woman wrote about her sister who was born in the early 1960s. She was the most Gen X of the Gen X it seemed — very into punk and alt and teaching the younger Xers what being X was all about. They were from the East Coast.
My brother was born in ,1959. 3 years older than me. My Brother was a Gen X . Sometimes people mature at different stages and my brother experienced the same greatest generation of all times this far. Gen X was full of hope still. We had big dreams and innovation. We energized the world with new prospectives and we were aloud to express our ideas and beliefs.
I was in first grade for the Bicentennial. A select group of kids in my class got to play “face” characters for our school parade – Betsy Ross, George Washington, Patrick Henry. My best friend was Benjamin Franklin. Me? I was a lousy Continental soldier, meaning I wore Toughskins, a white T-shirt, a construction paper tricorn hat, and a blue crepe paper ribbon across my chest, which I managed to get wet at the drinking fountain before the parade, leaving a gigantic blue stain on my shirt.
Still, all that Bicentennial fever must have amounted to something, because I’m about to start my 29th year teaching middle school US History. I also am on my 21st year taking 8th graders on a history trip to the East Coast – DC, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. It’s a tough gig, but someone’s got to do it. 😁
I admit, I didn’t want to like this post. Being born in 1969, I’ve held onto my peak Gen X cred like a talisman, warding off the excesses of Boomer culture when I was younger and the ever-encroaching ravages of surviving another trip around the sun (56 times this month).
In truth, I *love* this post. I’ve got plenty of friends relegated to the seriously lame “Generation Jones” demographic. It sounds precisely like the kind of manufactured in a boardroom name that I’ve always rejected. For the same reason, I’ve always embraced Gen X, from the badass Billy Idol connection (“Ready, Steady, Go” is forever a banger) to Douglas Coupland’s landmark work.
So, yeah. Let’s expand the boundary out. We’re nothing if not accepting.
Love your work, Jen. I was a paid supporter of yours at some point, on some platform – Patreon? I don’t remember. If there’s a way to support your work again, feel free to reach out at my email.
Thank you, Scott!! I think Generation Jones sounds so lame, too. I have returned to writing more consistently as my youngest heads to college this fall. I’ve been on all the platforms including Patreon and Medium (for about two seconds). You’re referring to Substack. I am back on Substack, but primarily crossposting. I have started sending a free Substack newsletter once every two weeks, with links to posts on jenx67 and other things I find. Similar to my blue plate posts from many years ago. I had to clean up duplicate mailing lists so not to annoy everyone with too many emails. Everyone is on content overload. I checked and you are subscribed to the Substack. Thank you!!
I agree. Generation Jones was created by a person born in 1958, therefore a late boomer who wanted to distance his own era from the rest of the boomers. The very idea that those of us born from 1961-64 are “Jonesing” for what the boomers had is ridiculous. We are our own generation, in fact the most fiercely independent generation, one that for all intents and purposes raised ourselves.
I may be “too old to have mourned Kurt Cobain” but i am an Nirvana fan, as well as having alt rock tunes of my own in my teens and early 20s before switching to composing classical music.
Love that you’re a Nirvana fan. And, yes, it is so ridiculous to think any Gen Xer was jonesing to be a Boomer. Not in any universe.
I remember the bicentennial mania, we had to dress up as revolutionary characters for school and we paraded around and had a picnic where the teacher made ice cream outside. It was boring and hot and I hated my bicentennial costume.
That’s keeping it real. I have seen a lot of comments here and there about dressing up in wool and long dresses in July. So funny!
So glad to see this. I was born in 1964 and never felt like a boomer but the hard lines drawn by the Gen X groups made it hard to feel apart of that generation as well. I have a sister born in 61’ and a sister born in 70’. Musically, socially and politically I feel closer to Gen X than Boomers. Won an Atari pong game made for TV in 1976 and played more Asteroids than pinball at the arcade or pizza joint but certainly played both. You referenced the cartoons and the Sid and Marty lineup was right in my wheelhouse with the likes of Sigmund and the Sea Monster, Land of the Lost etc. I get that gate keeping is real but when you are on the cusp of these different generations it’s often a different experience depending on where you grew up, rural/city/suburb and the people you hung out with. Kids with mostly older boomer siblings were a bit different than the kids with younger siblings. As a history major I find all these cultural discussions interesting. It’s like a walk down memory lane
Thank you! You said it so well. Those born on the cusp often get overlooked. The Pong, Asteroids, and Land of the Lost (loved it) memories really hit home. Generational lines don’t always reflect lived experience, especially when geography, siblings, and culture play such a big role. I’m so glad you weighed in on the conversation.
Cool article…I was born in 1955 and my sister in 1964. We still feel like we’re a generation apart as I’m solidly a Boomer:). Reading this was a flashback to HER childhood for me.
As someone born in the 70s, ’64 seems worlds different to me. I see you and your sister as more of the same.
People born in the early 60s seem and are worlds different than Gen X. All of our coming of age was different. What is often discussed as Gen X upbringing, late Boomers were already grown and missed the true experience. For example, they did not grow up on tech (PCs in school), MTV, home gaming, Blockbuster, all of the modern touchstones. At best, they were late teens beyond their formative years. Gen X experienced it in its entirety. Challenger, every Gen X were in classrooms (’65 college). That was a pivitol Gen X experience.
Gen X is the ONLY generation who the previous or older generation latches to and tries to identify as. Usually, younger wants to emulate the older. There is an interesting article about this – biggest generational shifts in modern culture. Cultural flipped dynamics. When younger people become the ones older generations want to emulate, which is seen with Gen Jones vs Gen X. Gen Jones reject being miscategorized—then adopt someone else’s category. It isn’t a natural fit. There is so many interesting and thought provoking points that explain why so many try to claim another generation, while not wanting be claimed in the one they are technically in.
It’s ashamed that you are a mod for Gen X Reddit and that sub is the only one with incorrect dates. The other subs have the standard dates, sometimes with an extended range. Gen Jones certainly has the correct dates for theirs. That sub is so unenjoyable and many people complain in the comments and in other comment sections about that. But, that’s typical Gen X. haha
Oh you nailed it! I was in 5th grade and it was miserable.
I was in first grade for the Bicentennial. A select group of kids in my class got to play “face” characters for our school parade – Betsy Ross, George Washington, Patrick Henry. My best friend was Benjamin Franklin. Me? I was a lousy Continental soldier, meaning I wore Toughskins, a white T-shirt, a construction paper tricorn hat, and a blue crepe paper ribbon across my chest, which I managed to get wet at the drinking fountain before the parade, leaving a gigantic blue stain on my shirt.
Still, all that Bicentennial fever must have amounted to something, because I’m about to start my 29th year teaching middle school US History. I also am on my 21st year taking 8th graders on a history trip to the East Coast – DC, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. It’s a tough gig, but someone’s got to do it. 😁
The part about getting the blue crepe paper ribbon wet at the water fountain. The pain of that can be felt by an entire generation. LOL.
I agree with all of this. All of those experiences were a part of my childhood, teens and 20s. Thank you for the recognition! I was born in 1964 and relate to Gen X more than the Boomers.
Thank you, Aleshia. I try to get riled up but some of the Facebook comments have be saying, “Go be a Xennial.” haha!
Great read Jennifer! Born myself in 1963, I have long felt the same way and have had this discussion often.
Thank you, Jim! I appreciate the feedback so much.
I have been tilting at this windmill for years. Thank you for detailing it so eloquently.
As one who was born in June of 1962, this is spot-on for me. I’ve never felt like a boomer and was told I didn’t belong in Generation X. Thank you for making a place for me and my generational siblings. I’m now age 63, in a much-loved career, and trying to do my part to make the world a better place for all.
Thank you, Anita. To quote Gordinier, Generation X Saves the World. I love that you’re trying to make the world a better place, and I am, too. It is the high calling, right? To leave everything better than we found it. We have a lot of work to do.
Thank you Jennifer for putting this into words. If anything, the 1961 thru 1964 cohort ARE the original Gen X.