Generation X: What makes today's 45-60-year-olds so cool
When it comes to the question of which generation is the coolest, Generation X has often been forgotten – and unjustly so.
I was nine years old, and my mother—then in her mid-20s—was vacuuming the living room while " My Favorite Game " by The Cardigans blared from the speakers. Wearing low-slung jeans , she paced the carpet to the beat while I watched from the sofa. This memory will always be linked to that song for me.
Although I was born in the '90s —and am therefore a Millennial —I come from a Gen X household and was therefore exposed to culture from an early age. Our CD shelf was mostly filled with music from '90s bands: Pixies, PJ Harvey, Placebo. The same goes for my favorite movies: "Big Bang," for example, or "Fallen Angels," "Run Lola Run," "Hackers."
Later, as I began to engage with Generation X authors like Bret Easton Ellis, Elizabeth Wurtzel's "Prozac Nation," and Irvine Welsh, I realized something: I was simply born 15 years too late. So instead of making mixtapes and hating my corporate job in the 1990s like Gen X, I have to deal with Instagram and ASOS packages.
The battle of the generations has become so omnipresent in recent years that it's almost boring to even broach the subject. Gen Z versus Millennials, Millennials versus Gen Z, and everyone versus the Boomers. Against this backdrop, Generation X, that is, everyone born between 1965 and 1980, has somehow been forgotten. In addition to mutual blame, the arguments primarily focus on the question of who was really the cool one. Could it be that this is, after all, the generation that no one ever talks about?
Kate Moss and Alexander McQueen
Generation X is also known for being often uninvolved in social contexts—a luxury that comes from privileges they are often unaware of. Yet, despite this, some of the coolest people of all belong to this generation: Kate Moss , Naomi Campbell , Alexander McQueen , Winona Ryder. Much of the art created by Millennials and Zillennials is based on Gen X foundations, such as Riot Grrrl, David Lynch, and MTV. Considering that the generation often goes unmentioned, it is surprisingly common.
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