Generation X

Generation X was generally marked early on by its lack of optimism for the future, nihilism, cynicism, skepticism, political apathy, alienation and distrust in traditional values and institutions. Following the publication of Coupland's book (and the subsequent popularity of grunge music) the term stretched to include more people, being appropriated as the generation that succeeded the Baby Boomers, and used by the media and the general public to denote people who were in their twenties.

For some of this generation, Generation X thinking has significant overtones of cynicism against things held dear to the previous generations, mainly the Baby Boomers. Some of those in Generation X tend to be very "consumer" driven and media savvy. Another cultural hallmark of Generation X was grunge music, which grew out of the frustrations and disenchantment of some teenagers and young adults. The fashion of grunge music was exemplified by the bands Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, The Pixies, Sonic Youth, and Nirvana. The grunge of the 1990s was influenced by punk and heavy metal of the 1970s and 1980s.

The attitude of Generation X towards religion is more complex than other cultural norms of this highly diverse generation. Many Xers believe in God or at least "a higher power" and are accepting of the plurality of world religions. Other Generation Xers are indifferent or hostile toward religion. Generation Xers are influential in the emerging church and other movements aimed at deconstructing and re-evaluating the religion of their parents (much as many American Post World War II Baby Boomers had done in the 1960s and 1970s). One commonality of Generation X's religious perspective is a lack of dogmatism.

Generation X, or the "Reagan Generation" as some have termed it, grew up during the end of the Cold War and the Ronald Reagan eras. As the first of their cohort reached adulthood, they experienced the collapse of the Soviet Union and the United States of America's emergence as the world's lone superpower. Generation X has been the largest generational military service block in American history and the most educated military force fielded by the United States with more enlisted and officer ranked persons holding Bachelor and Master's degrees than their World War II grandfathers. Generation X doesn't suffer the "Vietnam complex" fatigue of its parents and is more likely to identify themselves with their World War II grandparents in values, morals and practical living skills.

The employment of Generation X is volatile. Generation Xers grew up in a rapidly deindustrializing Western world, experienced the economic recession of the early 1990s and 2000s, saw traditional permanent job contracts being supplanted with unsecured short-term contracts, experienced offshoring and outsourcing and often experienced years of unemployment or underemployment at typical jobs, such as McJobs in their young adulthood. Many found themselves overeducated and underemployed, leaving a deep sense of insecurity in Generation Xers, whose usual attitude to work is Take the money and run. They no longer take any employment for granted, as their baby boomer counterparts did, nor do they consider unemployment a stigmatizing catastrophe.

The perception of Generation X during the early 1990s was summarized in a featured article in Time Magazine:

“ . . .They possess only a hazy sense of their own identity but a monumental preoccupation with all the problems the preceding generation will leave for them to fix . . .This is the twenty-something generation, those 48 million young Americans ages 18 through 29 who fall between the famous baby boomers and the boomlet of children the baby boomers are producing. Since today's young adults were born during a period when the U.S. birthrate decreased to half the level of its postwar peak, in the wake of the great baby boom, they are sometimes called the baby busters. By whatever name, so far they are an unsung generation, hardly recognized as a social force or even noticed much at all...By and large, the 18-to-29 group scornfully rejects the habits and values of the baby boomers, viewing that group as self-centered, fickle and impractical. While the baby boomers had a placid childhood in the 1950s, which helped inspire them to start their revolution, today's twenty-something generation grew up in a time of drugs, divorce and economic strain. . .They feel influenced and changed by the social problems they see as their inheritance: racial strife, homelessness, AIDS, fractured families and federal deficits.[4] ”

In economics, a study was done (by Pew Charitable Trusts, the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Urban Institute) that challenges the notion that each generation will be better off than the one that preceded it. The study, 'Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well?" focuses on the income of males 30-39 in 2004 (those born April, 1964 – March, 1974) and is based on Census/BLS CPS March supplement data.

The study, which made national headline news on May 25, 2007, emphasizes that in real dollars, that cohort made less (by 12%) than their fathers at the same age in 1974, thus reversing a historic trend. The study also suggests that per year increases in father/son family household income has slowed (from 0.9% to 0.3% average), barely keeping pace with inflation, though progressively higher each year due to more women entering the workplace contributing to family household income.

According to the US Census Bureau, from 1993 to 2006, males grossed less than their fathers (defined as the cohort 30-years prior, about the average age of fatherhood) at the same age, using combined real median income and based on the following criteria:[5]

At ages 25-34, those born from about 1965-1981
At ages 30-39, those born from about 1963-1976
At ages 25-39, those born from about 1964-1981
This trend may be the cause of one of the hallmarks of Generation X: entrepreneurship. Generation X has been characterized by their strong tendency to attempt to start businesses in unconventional areas, as opposed to seeking employment with established companies. It was this tendency that fueled the dot-com boom of the 1990s. Generation X was the first group to recognized the vast potential of the internet and the world wide web, and many of them started the currently dominant internet based companies (such as Google, Yahoo, and eBay). Some became multimillionaires before the age of 30, while many went bankrupt in the dot-com bust. Because many of the "dot-coms" were started in private homes, basements, and garages, and because the men and women who built the dot-coms worked in seclusion dressed informally, Generation X was accused of being a group of slovenly, lazy "slackers."

Generation X was also marked by athleticism and environmentalism. The combination of a love of athletics and a love of nature gave birth to the extreme sports movement. Extreme sports included a variety of risky outdoor activities, such as snowboarding, bungee jumping, and rock climbing. Some extreme sports, such as snowboarding, are now mainstream sports, with Olympic and professional competitions. Others, such as bungee jumping, were fads that died out as Generation X matured.

Generation X returned to the cities. Many American cities had been abandoned by the middle class in the late 1960s (a phenomenon called by some white flight). However, young people in the 1990s began returning to America's cities, revitalizing many downtown areas.

Prominent political causes of Generation X included anti-globalization, gay rights, environmentalism, opposition to South African Apartheid, and autonomy for Tibet. The Tibetan Freedom Concert toured three cities, drew over 270,000 attendees, and raised over two million dollars for the cause. In 1994, the campus organization Students for a Free Tibet was established, and currently has 650 chapters globally. During the late 1980s, students demonstrated to force colleges and universities to divest themselves of their South African holdings; the students typically constructed and inhabited shanties on university grounds to illustrate the deplorable conditions caused by Apartheid. These efforts generally succeeded in persuading universities to divest South African holdings. However, due to the absence of a pacifist movement amongst members of Generation X, this generation has sometimes been labeled as apathetic. Generation X displays a widespread tolerance of homosexuality, and Generation X is the oldest generation for which it was commonplace that homosexuals would not try to hide their orientation. Starting in the 1990s, young people demonstrated repeatedly in opposition of sweat-shopping and offshoring (collectively known as globalization). Such demonstrations in Genoa, Seattle, Madrid, Washington, and numerous other cities drew worldwide media attention.

The dress and fashion of Generation X is generally individualistic, and during the 1990s it was quite baroque. Unique tattoos are popular among that generation, as is body piercing. Offbeat fashions included punk, deadhead, and goth.