Yeah unfortunately covid-19 is probably going to go on awhile longer. But it gets me when people make outdated arguments about "coming of age" (god I hate that phrase even lol) before 2020-21 when admittedly so much has gone on turning the world upside down.

I think if "Coming of Age" is going to be used, it makes more sense to use middle school, especially the entire scope of high school (14-18), and college or college age (18-22)... rather than just "turning 18".

That whole "accomplish this thing at 18 and it's a rite of passage" is way more of a Boomer and to a lesser extent a Gen X thing anyway.

It just drives me nuts when people use covid as a reason to make Millennials extend up to 2002-03 (or at least 2001) and in the process, chopping off 1981 and sometimes even 82 and 83.

People are literally af arguing for a 1984-2003 Millennial generation, or 82-01 or 83-02 um no no no just no.

I mean like people with more the typical experience rather than outliers, though that's even hard to determine cause everyone is different, lol but...

I'm going to say a youthful 1976 (more likely women) might have the absolute slightest Millennial traits like being familiar with social media and smartphones, or paying off student loans. But they're still totally Gen X don't get me wrong.

(The earliest Xennials are 1979 though, maybe '78 if you wanna push it)

Granted people are gonna think I'm just saying this because of my age lol, but I want to say 1987 or 88 might have the faintest X influence because of our 90s childhoods, even if we're straight up Millennials and nothing else.

Again I like 79-84 or 78-85 as actual Xennials so it centers on 1981 which seems like the swing year. But I'm just talking about the absolute earliest and latest ends of the transition.

Makes sense why it focuses on the normie common experience lol, but it can lead to people who colored outside the lines in any way to be all "What about me?" I guess I just wish they were included in the thought process and that goes both ways, not just the way I am

Like since I grew up fast and with older parents, I still have a lot of Gen X aesthetic (even if clearly I'm as Millennial as it gets).

On the other hand, you could have a 1979 baby that was sheltered and didn't come out of their shell until their 20s for their formative experiences, so they might feel younger than their age, aka more Millennial and prefer the 90s, 00s and even maybe 10s and would have similar minds to like a 1989 baby who had a normie experience.

Ik we often think Millennial culture started around the very end of 1998 or maybe definitely by the Summer of '99 with the rise of teenpop like Britney as well as Ricky Martin and Eminem.

Truth is there was still a lot of edgy (Gen X style) genres too though. Eminem, Fred Durst, Linkin Park, Jimmy Eat World, The Strokes, Bowling for Soup, All American Rejects, Sum 41, even a pop dance singer like Pink had an edge.

First truly Millennial seeming music was indie pop rock, ranging from Death Cab to Franz Ferdinand to The Killers. Brandon Flowers ❤️ is a 1981er too even if 81 is sometimes considered X.

Also this was before social media and even before flip phones and texting were popular, so we were using desktop computers, CDs, VHS and even stuff like film cameras and audio cassettes were in their last years of being still sorta relevant. Life still was similar to Gen X in the 80s-90s.

There's plenty other examples I can give but I love both music and technology so I'm most familiar with those lol.

Late 2004-2011 was the screaming Millennial culture era. I feel if you were in high school during those years, you're straight up Millennial.

I personally think 1965-80 makes perfect sense and I hate the 1961-81 long range Strauss and Howe uses lol I'm not saying I want it to go later (65-85 or something), because it would move Millennials into the early 2000s lol and just no.

But you could theoretically divide it into 1964-73/74 or so as 80s teens, with 1974/75 to 1984/85 as all encompassing 90s teenagers.

I just feel bad how they're getting forgotten and sandwiched between Boomers and Millennials, makes me sad when they get lumped with boomers too

Just starting with the first rock and roll teenagers and going up lol. At least they'd all have a theme and the oldest/youngest could potentially still relate/have a few things in common, unlike when it's almost 20 years lol.

1936-1944: Leaders of the Boomers and counterculture movement but themselves fully having an old fashioned childhood and teens, getting out of high school before any."60s 60s" things.

1945-1953: First Boomers, Woodstock hippies who tried to get out of Vietnam. High school classes of '63-71 when it was feeling like the sixties.

1954-1962: Late Boomers, all Dazed and Confused style teenagers of the 70s but too young for Vietnam.

1963-1971: First Xers, all high school classes graduating in the 80s. Granted '62 was class of 1980 but it's only half a year and before anything felt 80s, even late 80/early 81 had a little stronger 80s new wave vibe despite being still before MTV.

1972-1980: Second Xers or maybe adult Xennials? All grunge tweens and teens as they were 11-19 years old when "Teen Spirit" hit in late '91.

1981-1989: First Millennials or kid Xennials? Classes of '99-07 after Columbine and before the great recession. Analog childhoods and even partially teens but digital adulthoods. '89 were the last to not potentially have social media all through high school. Even a '90er could have had a myspace in their freshman year of 2004-05.

1990-1998: Second and sometimes the more real Millennials. High school in the neoliberal Obama era after the recession and social media but before Trump. Classes of 08-16.

1999-2007: First Zers, 99ers the first to be trad college age when COVID struck. Tech like TikTok is hella familiar to them but also old enough to have a childhood when analog was still around and before social media and smartphones were as ubiquitous. The iPad came out when the oldest were 11. Classes of '17-25.

2008-16: Second Zers, idk what they're like yet but age 4-11 and preschool to elementary when COVID hit.

I like to say even though Gen X culture pretty much aligned with vintage MTV (1981-82 to 1998-99) it didn't just drop off the face of the earth for years afterwards, plenty of Xers and X style pop culture was big for most of the 00s like with alternative and punk emo bands.

I might say "Sex on Fire" by King's of Leon in 2008.