From the legacy that Karen has taken on – the character for every white upper-class woman who insists on speaking to the manager – to the so-called spoiled millennial who have no respect for their elders, the generational divide seems to be thickening as we attach labels based on age.
What once seemed like harmless banter seems to be causing tension.
With the surge in meme culture, it is arguable that these caricatures have gotten a bit out of hand. But with these memes have also come new ideas about gender and identity and how we can better identify ourselves and each other.
With the newest generations of millennials and Gen Z, there has been a prominent new wave of change that some older generations have been skeptical of. It’s easy to dismiss young people when they don’t have as much experience or lived in the world as long as you.
Sure, it may seem silly to respect someone who identifies as transgender or call someone they instead of he or she, if rigid gender roles were valued more than self-expression when you grew up. It may feel like a challenge to be around more openly gay couples and flags if what was drilled into your head was Marriage is only to be between a man and a woman. The practice of being antiracist may seem like a big adjustment when you grew up in a segregated world. But making these adjustments are more important than you think.
You may reason that political correctness is a big overreaction to addressing someone by the wrong pronoun, or for example, using the infamous phrase colored people instead of people of color. The reason why it is such a big deal is because of what young people are accused of lacking – basic respect.
I will confess, the latest generation tends to be unapologetic in their arguments – most notably when it comes to refuting Trump supporters. The reason why you may have seen people stomp on his merchandise or spit on his Hollywood Walk of Fame star is because we are sick of blatant racism and misogyny being spewed without consequence. You can go on all you want and say we are throwing tantrums because we didn’t get our way, but to speak upon racism isn’t a small issue if you ask me.
We are declaring that we will not accept this behavior from now on. We are pledging to demote power structures that have not been criticized enough in our high school classrooms or used to put down women when yoga pants became a distraction to boys. We are not trying to be ageist when we say we want a younger president. We’re trying to say that a fresh perspective isn’t something that should always be doubted. As a 23-year-old, helping out a candidate the same age as me, gives me hope that the values of our generation will be translated, or simply understood better than someone who was born long before the turn of the century, should he get elected. Because my values are lodged in the treatment of human beings.
I will admit, I kick myself a little each time the K name comes out of my mouth. Gen Z can probably agree that the word frequents group chats after their mom or dad did something that can be cited back to their age. I’ll never forget last Christmas when my dad was low key mad that my brother got me a shirt that sported the famous saying “ok boomer.” Of course, no one gets off on being criticized for their existence in the space time continuum, but taking note of why we are being called that can remind us of our behavior.
Speaking for myself, I definitely do not mean anything malicious by the phrase, but simply to pick fun of backward trends expressed by a “boomer.” For example, as someone who is still on their spiritual journey and not totally engulfed in scripture, I’ve seen myself critique the boomer population for their rigid indoctrination of Christianity, only because it is largely the reason that gay and transgender rights were only recently federally enforced. I’m laughing at the people who preach to love their neighbor but not their gay neighbor. I’m making fun of people who see the phrase Black Lives Matter as exclusive rather than inclusive, because it is easier for them to ignore the fact that black lives aren’t being valued in this country right now, were they ever. Those are a few instances where Karen has come up.
I am in no way justifying the stereotypes we place on each other, but trying to provide context in why we act the way we do. I think there is a level of accountability we can hold each other to without deeming them horrible for growing up during the reign of racist doctrines or because they recently came out of the womb. In a time where it is easy to underwrite each other for our differences, we must have these painful, uncomfortable conversations. We must learn from our experiences and also the experiences we have had the privilege not to endure, and to listen to each other more deeply and compassionately. As we learn how to correctly address each other and be our most antiracist selves, it is a great time to learn a balance of tough love and unconditional love.