THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
INSIDE
SECTION2
Tuesday, May 3,1994
A long search
Staff writer Kevin Hoffmann looks at lives that have been changed by adoption — including his own.
Pages 2B,3B and 4B.
We've been labeled by everyone but ourselves, defined as everything from do-gooders to dropouts. They got it wrong. Sure, sometimes we're alone and even a little scared. But, above all ...
WE'RE NOT
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The hopes and fears of our generation
INSIDE
Religion
An inward search For our generation, the belief in something bigger than ourselves parallels that of past generations. However, we have less faith in organized religions and are turning to the ones we create. Page 6B
Sex Risky business Even in the age of AIDS, we are willing to take chances with our lives in the name of lust. Page 6B
Divorce Moving on Moving on. Children of divorce try shake the cycle of broken marriages their parents began. Page 7B
Politics Boring rhetoric Government and politicians don't interest our generation. We're waiting to be inspired. Page 78
Politics
TECHNOLOGY Full speed ahead Growing up with rapid advancements of technology provides both advantages and problems for our generation. Page 8B
Technology
Economy
Peering over the edge As the middle class shrinks, our generation faces an increasing divide between the rich and poor. Page 82
What's in a name?
Everything and nothing.
After all,
it's what we do,
not what we're called,
that will define us.
Let's lose the hex on 'Generation X'
Our generation, born between 1964 and 1976, has a bad rap. Are we anxious? Maybe. Confused? A little. But we definitely are not lost.
What is lost instead is control — control of both our image and our future.
Cover stories by Time and Fortune, books by "Generation X" author Douglas Coupland and pseudo-pop documentaries on MTV, all have sealed our fate. Born between the Beatles' arrival and Jimmy Carter's election, we have never had a chance to define who we are or. better put, who we aren't.
The media and marketers encapsulate our generation into buzz words and sound bites because that is easier than finding the truth. "Generation X" has become a generation hex. And now that we're all packaged, we're not sure we like the wrapping.
It was the distorted picture of our generation that inspired this attempt to see who we are, what we think and how we live. Five journalism students undertook this project because we were tired of reading sweeping generalizations about our generation, inevitably written by people over the age of 30, people who just didn't get it.
For advertisers and academics alike, we are the children of broken families who would be unable to commit. We are materialistic to the point of running up huge debts on our parents' credit cards. We are arrogant employees unwilling to pay our dues at a McJob. We are demanding the American Dream, but we aren't willing to work for it.
All of these stereotypes and more are perpetuated by writers and marketers who have no idea of what growing up today is really like.
How could they?
But for the last 30 years, it hasn't been like that. Divorce rates have skyrocketed, technology is exploding, sex is a dangerous game, religion is anybody's choice, our economy is questionable and government doesn't count for much.
They were born when life was different. Norms were known. Opportunities were plentiful. Change was slow.
We grew up with hostages overseas, nuclear missiles in our backyards, and an actor in the White House. In slow-motion replay, we watched a teacher and six astronauts die over Florida. We saw the Berlin Wall razed and the national debt build. SCUD missiles flew in Iraq, a not swept Los Angeles, and crude oil spilled off the Alaskan coast.
But the sum of these events does not tell our story. Many captured our attention but not our collective conscious. We will never point to any one event, such as Vietnam or the Depression, as our milestone.
Our generation has a whole new set of forces to contend with, and we don't have the road map of history to guide us. In undertaking this commentary about our generation, five frustrated twenty-somehings have found this: We've made it this far and, at least for right now, we are doing just fine.
Our generation is educated. We're willing to work,but we just need a chance.
We know all the words of advice from our parents makes sense — life won't be easy.
As far those labels and stereotypes we've been given, forget about them. We didn't ask for them, we didn't create them, and we don't like them. After all, it's what we do, not what we're called, that will define us.
SIZING UP OUR GENERATION?
As five twentysomething journalism students, we started out to write about our generation. As soon as we found one characteristic we thought everyone under the age of thirty possessed, we found too many exceptions.
We tried random surveying of the KU student body with the help of a journalism class. But that only scratched the surface of students' attitudes.
We found a new direction for the project. We decided to identify forces, like rates of divorce, changes in technology and economic forecasts that we could pinpoint. Directly or indirectly, these forces have left their marks on all of us.
There is no definition that encompasses all of us. There is no truth to be found.
Writers:
Joe Harder, 22, Sterling senior, will graduate in May and attend seminary in British Columbia this fall. Terrilyn McCormick, 22, Kansas City, Mo., senior, will graduate May 15. In June she starts reporting for the Idaho Statesman, Boise, Idaho. David Stewart, 27, Lawrence senior, will be summer editor of the Kansan. He will graduate in August.
Designer:
Den Schauer, 21, Roeland Park senior, will graduate this May and intern at the Fort Wayne, Ind., News Sentinel as a front-page designer.
Photographer:
Tom Leininger, 22, Elmira, N.Y., senior, will intern as a photographer at The Detroit News this summer.