Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 28, 1994)
MYTH Continued from Page 1 milments or having families Time c laimed ihnl twen tysomethings were obsessed with entertainment, set they had not made any substantial cultural contributions of their own. One \ ear Inter. Canadian author Douglas Coupland released his first novel titled Generation X Tales for an Accelerated Culture The book < hronicled the lives of three ox-yuppies, who, fed up with their fast-paced urban lives, abandoned their professional jobs and their fat salaries to "cut themselves adrift on the California Desert." The book wasn't so much about the baby-busters that Time's article had < hronicled. but the name stuck any way. Twenty somethings were grated with a now title and a category of their very own The media ate it up. And like a tumbleweed, the Gen X idea gained momentum and built upon itself. The tag soon infiltrated the media at large, including newspa pers. magazines, books and films A small independent film called Slacker added fuel to the flame and paved the way for other television pro grams and movies Newspapers now use the term liber ally: "Generation X Doing Heroin." A rock star who had killed himself became the representative of the dis traught Generation X." The newest group to jump on the bandwagon has been the advertising agent ies Realizing th.it the baby boomers would not live forever, ad agent ies have re< entlv bom herded the airwaves and print with their own idea of what the Generation X is all about Denise Hall, a 2B-year-old ret ent graduate, mother and supposed Cam Xer. tails the media s interpretation ot her generation "total bullshit " Hall says that the media, in particular the nd agent ies, have picked up on a t atoh phrase that does not apply to anyone but have perpetuated the image to exploit the Gen X market. Mike Ifealy, a 22-year-old student, musician, comput er freak and alleged Gen Xer, also sees the perpetuation of the stereotypical slacker character to be completely without ground "Generation X is a marketing tactic." he said. It offends me Kveryone I know works really hard ” Mealy believes the books, the movies, the commercials and the like are not about his generation at all "It's advertisers trying to define us.” he said "It's just a per suasion tactic Advertisers don't deny their interest in the Gen X mar ket. It's a -tf> million person. $125 billion market Until they woke up to the Gen X. advertisers had been focus ing on baby boomers. They realized that unless they removed their baby-boomer blinders, they would risk alienating an important and potentially lucrative market group. Anti so the pursuit began. anti advertisers bought into the Gen X notion lock. stm k and barrel. TtMlay. it is not tin* suit-t Inti businessman who is tr\ mu to soil you n t ar on television; it is the flannel riati, long-haired, head-banging grungester Muscle-bound hunks are a continuing presence in beer commercials. but joining them in the kingdom of beer ads are the pale, intellectual, skinny Gen Xers. who would rather reminist e about TV shows than plov vol leyball on the beach. After all. television is a defining fort e in the lien Xcr’s life, right ' ‘Gen X is a conception brought on by the baby boomers. It is an explanation of how their generation is better than everyone else. I've always felt like my generation is defined as not bright and motivated. It's not true, and I resent that.’ Denise Hall. supposed member ot Generation X Wrong, cry this target audience "I'm not on thi> Gen X tra< k." claims Hen Moebius. a J l \ ear-old student, newspaper reporter and suspected Gen Xer. Moebius secs some ei oimmii. < hanges that have afft* t ed the working world. He agrees w ith the (ion X sent! merit that a suffering oconomv has i hanged the wav his generation thinks about certain things, lint notes that this phenomenon is nothing new If anything. Moebius believes that finam ial hard tunes and a tight job market have made him and his peers more ambitious, not passively lazy as the stereotype implies Moebius notes that his is not the first generation to be labeled as lost "There's a lost generation in every generation." lie said In the loads. Krnest Hemingway and his fellow expatriates were targeted as a lost generation They were a generation shattered by a horrifit war. a generation that was somewhat estranged from the previous generation. Moebius said The same applies to the beatniks and the hippies Moebius says that of course his generation is differ eilt from others, but does not understand why they have been labeled an empty generation 1 he Generation X. slacker tag is not appropriate." Moebius said It would In' a lot more productive to call us twentysomethings." Just what qualifit utions warrant entry to the ranks of Gen X is a mystery to some Mealy has seen the Camera lion X defined as people 18-29. people ami'll 20-34 and (host' aged 20-30. He t ails liis supposed generation "a generation with no name, no bat kgrnund and no similarity a main stream conglomeration of people that has too many variables and is defined only ns having no definition." A recent studv by the Roper ('.enter for Public Opinion Research found that the (ieneration Xers are "no more a real demographic phenomenon than the tree nymph " 1 he studv found that the slat ker moniker uas nothing more than a myth The studv et hoed the t ries of tvvelltv somethings, vv ho found themselves unwillingly (tainted as lazy, cynical deviants "Survey data don’t show anything - anything generatiomilly tiistmt live Any sense that the wink ethu is less vital among Xers is just not home out " Still, some t went v somethings do believe that tht< slat ker lifestyle is alive and well in 199-1 jenttifer l.ar son is a 2 1 -year old recent grailuate, lab Its hnician and at t usetl Gen Xer I hough she does not see herself as a typo al slat ker, she sees people around her living a semi Gen X life "I tmlievc in Cam X." she saitl lake Mot'hius. 1.arson believes that economic hard ships hav e rohltetl her generation of some of their poten tin! Ilii! ImIiv boomers havi' all ihf jobs." she said Mam t>f her tollegi' educ .cited friends art' unable to find work in tlu-ir fields lhcv takr whatever they < an get Larson said, ami perhaps this adds to thi) disillu sionment and dissatisfac tion that (.mi Xers ari> known for Larson believes, hownvor, that tin1 intidia interprcta turn of twenty-somethings has gotten out of hand Whih; ( am Xi-rs may represent a small portion of today s youth, they arc by no umaris indicative id the inajoritv of today s twenty-somethings Larson believes the media has so amplified the (am X idea (fiat it is ai i opted as nullity Lint media shapes this reality in many wavs." she said Hall believes that the (ant X myth is a sort of genera tional sibling rivalry between baby boomers and their younger brothers and sisters Instead of the traditional sibling weaponry lists, nails and teeth the older brothers and sisters are using a more powerful Weapon the media "Lien X is a conception brought on hy the baby boomers. Hall said "It is an explanation of bow their generation is better than everyone else I've always felt like' mv generation is defined as not bright and motivat ed It s not true, and I resent that Heulv worries that the media's influence will leave an indelible mark on Ins generation, a mark hi' does not w ish his generation to hear He. like many other report ed (ten Xers. does not want to he known as an empty generation whose only c ultural identity < omes from a television set 1 le.ily know s that Ins is a v ihrantly creative generation, but if tin* media c ontinue to define them as the Camera lion Lmpty, perhaps the definition will stic k Cash For Textbooks Mon.-SaL Smith Family Bookstore 768 E. 13th 1 Block From Campus 345-1651 Tke Copy Skop Open Mon-Fri 8-7 Sat 10-4 S«n*var; Patman S Fmry Rigrt an I Jr 485-6253 Tuesday, 6/28 SURPRISE N ITEM! (we don't know either) Wednesday, 6/29 $© Off The Wall presents THE TREVOR WATTS DRUM ORCHESTRA 8 00 p m Thursday, 6/30 $© K PANTS BRACKET BABY SNUFKIN POP SECRET '9 30 pm SHARP" Friday, 7/1 $© Ska kings MUSTARD PLUG with funk rockers SILICONE JONES Learn How To Save A Life Communitu Adult CPR/First Aid Workshop Get Certified NOW! $10 Fee Includes: • 4 Hour Class • Instruction Booklet • Red Cross C.F.R. Certification Card • For registered UO students only • Cancellations must be 24 hours in advance or student will be charged for workshop • C P. R. classes held in Student Health Center Cafeteria CPR Classes: June 29 - 5:00-9:00 pm July 6 - 5:00-9:00 pm July 7 - 5:00-9:00 pm July 18 - 12:30-4:30 pm July 20 - 5:00-9:00 pm July 21 - 5:00-9:00 pm Eirsi.Aid Classes June 29 - 5:00-9:00 pm July 7 - 5:00-9:00 pm Register Earlg! • 346- 2770 Sponsored by the Student Health Center Health education Program
