GEN Z CULTURE AND STEREOTYPES: EXAMINING THE LONELIEST GENERATION

     Generation Z has garnered major attention in recent years following their gradual advancement to early adulthood. They may also credit their popularity to their continuous presence on the internet and every other generation’s increasing interest in it. Gen Z-ers are primarily born between the years 1995 to 2009 so are between the ages 13 to 27. 

     Whether on the internet or in person you can always spot a Gen Z at first glance as opposed to a millennial or any other generation. Apart from the fact that they are young (obviously), Gen Z possess characteristics that set them apart from older generations. As the first digital natives, you can always count on seeing a gen z with their phones or any other technological gadget doing digital native stuff. The first major characteristics of a Gen Z is the complete reliance on technology. It controls every facet of their lives and rightly so. Generation Z was born into a completely technological innovated world. So, for them, their career, personal interests and social networking is majorly reliant on technology and the internet. To cut yourself from technology as a Gen Z is to simply put be completely isolated. In fact, it is inconceivable.

     Generation Z is also known for their radicalness when dealing with social and political vices. While older generations like the millennials have been major pioneers of racial equality, gender equality, gay rights and were very active in shaping the politics of their societies to be more inclusive to marginalized communities, Gen Zs have taken all of these things a couple of steps higher. Gen z is very invested in racial diversity and identity as opposed to older generations. Gen Z culture has birthed and popularized phrases like cultural appropriation, cultural appreciation, cultural gatekeeping, color-ism, micro aggression among others. Feminism and gender equality movements also seem to have reached an all-time high with the inception of phrases like toxic masculinity, rape culture etc. with different viewpoints on the movement. 

    Generation Z is also considered to be the most financial minded generation to date. They are obsessed with financial stability and affluence. This generation is characterized by the birth of what is considered nontraditional means of making money by older generations. With the settling in of technology, the internet and social media, we have had the birth of crypto trading and Forex trading, making money off social media by taking advantage of platforms like Instagram and YouTube and many other social media or tech savvy money making skills that didn’t exist about a decade ago 

     As with every other generation, there are perceived advantages and disadvantages to every feature. As opposed to older generations like millennials, Gen Z suffers the most from mental health issues. There are varying stances on this problem. A school of thought proposes that generation Z are not mentally ill at all, it has just become a trend to be mentally ill and as a trend fueled generation, majority of the population decided to follow the trend. Another stance suggests that there have always been massive mental health issues in the world, Generation Z has just decided to call attention to what has always been a world problem but has just been ignored in a state of nature type society where only the strong are relevant. The most popular stance on the mental health condition of Gen Z however is that, their reliance on social media and the internet for social and emotional gratification alongside their fascination with radicalness and social justice is the root cause of it. 

     As a digital and social media fueled generation, a sizable number of Gen Z find themselves isolated. Even with their impressive access to information and easier communication, their continuous relationship with technology often makes it harder to form face to face relationships with peers and other members of society. This generation is also characterized by social media pressures. With the growing popularity of apps like Instagram which is solely built to showcase the joys, successes and beauty of everyday life, it is often difficult to want to be present in the obvious struggles of everyday life. This leads to pressure to be constantly busy and glamorously successful at all cost fanning the fire of “hustle culture” that seems to be present in the minds of a vast number of Generation Z-ers which turns out to be immensely toxic to self-satisfaction, happiness and in turn mental health. Generation Z is also unfortunately pressured by social media, immediate society and themselves to be successful at a way earlier age than any generation has ever sought success before. 

    Gen Z is a radical generation heavily invested in human rights, LGBTQ rights, gender equality, racial equality, climate change and global warming prevention among a host of many other radical movements. Their complete interest in these movements is a major contributing factor to their declining mental health. A sizable percentage of the Gen Z population often internalize these problems absorbing it so completely that a dent in the movement also becomes a dent in their mental health. Gen Z-ers believe that a lot of these problems can be solved by collective responsibility which can be created by massive education and recruitment of the public to their cause. Unfortunately, it is not easy to change the reasoning of an entire population of people due to social and natural patterns. Therefore, in essence, our obsession with justice and equality also accounts for our declining mental health. 

    Gen Z is a generation fixated on identity and are often deeply independent in their thoughts and ideas. As you may be able to tell from the different sides of tik tok that exists like book tok, feminism tok, food tok, conservative tok, liberal tok, all religious or non-religious affinity tok and so on, members of the Gen Z community take individuality to an all-time high. Strong in their convictions and distinct personalities they are less likely to follow immediate societal or communal norms and when they do adhere to those norms it is strictly on their terms and principles. Unfortunately, this this strand of traits among Gen Z has led us to be perceived as an inherently selfish, entitled and confusing generation who are difficult to coexist with in communities and workplace especially by members of older generations. However, despite our perceived short comings, our rigorous dedication to the earth, our society, ourselves and everything we believe in should convince you that you may rest easy leaving the future world in our hands (also you might as well rest easy and leave it to us anyway because you don’t have a choice, we are all you’ve got, we literally have nowhere else to go 😉).