About a half dozen years ago the internet began embracing the idea that there’s a generational cohort born from 1977 through 1983 that should be labeled “Xennials” (half-Generation X and half-Millennial). Today, there’s a subreddit dedicated to it.
The problem is that Xennials are not a thing.
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a group of people at a certain stage of life trying to find common ground. In fact, someone in my Boomer generation tried the same thing some 20 years ago with the invention of Generation Jones, a group consisting of late-stage Boomers and early-stage Gen Xers. Jonathan Pontell posited that those born from 1954 through 1965 are neither fish nor fowl, but Jonesers.
While clever, it’s not particularly accurate or even helpful.
To start with, what makes a generation into a cohort are not the shared experiences they are having in their 40s, like the so-called Xennials. It’s what happened when they were coming of age, essentially during their teen-age years. Remember, generational distinctions are not psychological, but sociological. It isn’t who you are as a person, it’s what external forces shaped you — world events, politics, pop culture, societal trends, etc.
On top of that, social scientists and demographers (those academics out there) will tell you that a generational cohort is 20 years in duration. It needs to be long enough for the oldest member to give birth to the youngest member, potentially. Every generation that lasts 18-20 years will then naturally have a front half and a back half.
So for Boomers, for example, it is no wonder there are Bob Dylan Boomers and Bruce Springsteen Boomers — front half and back half. They aren’t two different generations, just two halves of one.
The same is true for younger Gen Xers and older Millennials who are seemingly detached from the rest of their generation. Ultimately, each will have more in common with their generational brethren than with some invented micro-generation in the middle.
What’s happening here is actually fascinating to us because it’s reflective of a larger cultural trend, the growth of pluralism.
You see, America is moving from being a melting pot to a bento box — everyone is looking for a specific place where they belong. We live in a time when there are no longer majorities, but identities. That motivates people to seek their place, or their identity, so they can belong. In pluralistic societies, no identity is superior and all are welcome.
It’s in that context that Xennials emerged. Those between 41 and 47 wanted to find their tribe. There’s nothing wrong with it, of course. It’s a new identity which they can call their own.
Demographically-speaking, though, it’s just not really a thing. ~ Matt Thornhill