I have wondered for some time now if I belong to Generation X. I was born after the baby boom, and after the assasination of John F. Kennedy. But my parents waited until they were much older to have me. And I am pretty sure they were born just before the “baby boom”.
Anyways, in case you haven’t noticed, I have just used two of the classic definitions of Generation X: (1) being born after the assasination of John F. Kennedy (but just before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989) AND (2) being born to “baby boomers”. As I’ve said, I clearly fit one of those definitions (the first), but not the second. So what generation am I? Someone please tell me. Because I have wondered now for the longest time…
I know we went through this recently. Here it goes: Gen X is the generation that comes between the Baby Boomers and their kids. That’s why they’re Gen X, the lost generation; they are slotted between two huge generations. Also, I think pushing Gen X up to the fall of the Berlin Wall is making it way too big, and has everything to do with kids who were in grade school in the early nineties wanting to associate themselves with the generation of Kurt Cobain. I’d say Gen X is everyone born between the Kennedy assassination and the last Apollo mission (1972). By the mid 70’s the boomers were starting to have kids, although the biggest wave didn’t come until the 80’s,
I too have trouble identifying ‘my generation.’ The way I figure it, I’m on the ‘cusp of GenX.’ I do believe that it is supposed to be the children of the Baby Boomers, NOT the generation in between. I’ve seen many age brackets used for GenX… Notably 1961-1981, 1965-1985, 1960-1975, etc, etc.
My sister seems firmly planted in Gen X, (1974), and since I’m just a bit younger than her (1977), I too associate myself with Gen X. That said, a lot of people consider me Gen Y. Generations are supposed to span 20 years, so I’d say Baby Boomers are from roughly 1946-1965, which would put Gen X from 1966-1985. However, almost no one will put someone from 1985 in Gen X. Odd. The most accepted term I’ve seen is 1961-1975. So, according to that, I’d be outside it…BUT, my sister is INSIDE, and my parents are both early Baby Boomers (1950 and 51 respectively), and it seems extremely odd that a sister only 3.5 years older than me is in a ‘different generation.’ Therefore, I consider myself Gen X.
I’ve also seen the term ‘baby boomlet’ for 1976-1981, where births spiked again. Who knows.