Why The Millennial v. Gen Z War Should End 

IS there actually a war? I don't see this anywhere other than on tiktok

Older gen Z and younger millennials are like the forgotten middle child. People seem to think all zoomers are teenagers and all millennials are pushing 40. But the oldest of zoomers and the youngest of millennials are both in their mid twenties. They might as well be their own generation.

Getting mad at kids *receiving* participation awards is bizarre. No one, myself included, ever felt anything other than embarrassment or apathy when receiving a trophy for participating in something.

imagine being more concerned about the jeans someone wears instead of working together as the 2 most educated and progressive generations we’ve ever saw.

The "war" is mostly just between bored kids on tiktok and twitter

I hate “generation wars” it’s so boring honestly

I’m a young millennial with a gen X parent who was starting middle school during the financial crisis. I’m in limbo 😂 I identify more with Gen Z in this video

TRUST ME, I’m literally not a war with anyone. I’m over here trying to pay for healthcare and car insurance, while looking for a house. I don’t have time to be worried about my aesthetic and how to perfect performative wokeness. Child please. 🤣

any generation: stop generalizing and stereotpying us ughhh any generation: *does it to every other gen*

Me, 29, listening to this woman calling me middle aged 👁👄👁

I love how gen z’s pants are just ugly 90s jeans.. the irony is hilarious.

Greatest Generation: Spent their childhood watching the economy collapse into extreme poverty, then got sent off to fight Nazis. Came back to a massive economic boom in manufacturing jobs. Learned the lesson that hard work and sacrifice solves everything. Baby Boomers: Born and raised in a world of economic prosperity, then watched the revelation of racism, political corruption, and an unjust war. Then grew up and realized that they could get rich by selling out their beliefs. Learned how to compromise by acting liberal, but thinking conservative. Generation X: Born and raised in a world on the brink of nuclear annihilation. Never expected to survive long enough to use adulting skills. Sat back, watched movies, played video games, watched MTV, went shopping, ate junk food. Threat of nuclear war suddenly disappeared, but now there's a hole in the ozone layer. Learned the lesson that life is just a bunch of bullshit, so fuck it all, and have a good time. Millennials: Born into a world obsessed with political correctness, with movies and TV leading a backlash, and then quickly saw the tide turn. Raised in an education system that promised absolutely everything handed to them on a platter as a reward for going to college. Ended up getting fucked by the student loan companies. Learned the lesson that you have to scream loudly if you want the world to give you what it owes you, and also the woke crowd was right all along. Zoomers: Born into a world divided over political issues, mostly dealing (for some reason) with sexuality and gender identities. Raised in a world where the cyber world has a far greater impact on your life than what happens in the meat world, not just socially, but financially. Learned the lesson that popularity is profitable and gender is an illusion. The Truth: Hard work, sacrifice, and a strong digital presence will help you reach your goals, but there are no guarantees, because of all the bullshit in the system. Take wokeness with a grain of salt. Compromise, but don't be a sellout. Enjoy some good movies and music. Don't eat too much junk food. Beware of money-lenders. Don't trust political parties. Don't let gender roles define you. Know what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. Get educated. Have a good time. And never miss an opportunity to kick a Nazi's ass.

Boomer, Gen X, Millenlial, and Gen Z, long ago the four generations lived together in harmony, that all changed when Buzzfeed and Tik Tok attacked

Millenials are going through their second financial crisis and most of us haven't even recover from the first one, our future is gloomy at best

I'm an older Millennial and I don't really feel like there's a war. I don't actually care if Gen Z makes fun of our fashion choices or trends. Fashion choices and pop culture trends are always silly and ridiculous. I like Gen Z. They're smart and they're driven. I see in them a potential that I feel that I lack. Many of my policy positions are in support of Gen Z and those who will come after. I know I'm too old to benefit much from affordable higher education and reasonable wages upon which people can actually live, but I think Gen Z and the generations that come after deserve more than what the Millennials got. I don't want future generations to live in a constant state of perpetual toil and insecurity while the climate crisis looms large over their psyches and periodic financial catastrophes make stability seem like a dream. I want to help turn this ship around so that Gen Z has a better future. And when we Millennials finally do make it to positions of power, I hope I'll be able to send down a ladder -- complete with rungs. Or maybe even a hand. I don't want to do to Gen Z what the Boomers have done (and are still doing) to Millennials. So... to Gen Z, I say - you're right. Our fashion choices were a little weird. Far from having any beef with you, I've got your back.

I'm new and I love this channel! 😃 I'm Gen X and understand virtually nothing about Millennials or Gen Z. Frankly, I don't understand the grouping thing. History is flowing and can't be divided up into (rather arbitrary) groups. When one observes a rainbow there are no sharp delineations between the colors. I've watched 25 or so of your videos over the past few days - glad to have found you! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜

And then we found out that those of us born between 1992-1998 are part of some subgroup called 'zennials'...Don't they know THIS IS RUINING MY BRANDING? "Cool, fun, zennial aunty"...just doesn't roll off the tongue. *sigh*

I find it weird that Millennials and Gen Z aren’t getting along considering they are very similar and have connected struggles.

I loved the commentary afterwards. Absolutely adore the intricate analyses of this channel. Your work is able to show the bigger story seen in film and pop culture.

I was born in 1992 but I still don’t fully feel like a millennial. Maybe that’s because I am the youngest of 6 of my siblings who are all born between the early to late 80s.

"Millennials are now hitting middle age"... that one hurt.

As a millennial I just want to stop getting shit from all sides. It’s been constant ever since we were teens. I just want to live out my barely-scraping-by adulthood in peace, and wish the same for future generations.

"Millenials parents were baby boomers" My mom was solidly gen x and I'm 35 years old.

I think this generational classification actively excludes the rest of the world where the collective conscious doesn't work like western first world countries. And then the exclusion effectively takes away the illusion of "universal inclusion" and "extended empathy".

I've never felt so far away from the American culture as I did with this video

I didn't know millennials vs Gen Z was a thing. I thought it was Everybody vs Boomers whether or not the individual was even a boomer

I always wondered if I was a Millenial or a Gen Z because I'm born right in between in 1995. But this video made it clear: I'm still wearing skinny jeans, using the crying laugh emoji, and had no idea that this war between generations existed because I don't have TikTok. So clearly a millennial.

Y’all I’m gen Z and I hate my middle part and prefer skinny jeans. It rlly doesn’t matter just wear what you want I promise no one cares outside of tiktok 🤦‍♀️

“Why the millennial vs gen z war should end” bruh it never even existed 😐

Gen Z totally wears the same style of clothes their parents when they were the same age.

Honestly, the whole “millennials raised by boomers who had financial security” thing is a very white middle-class American thing. As a younger millennial, I identify with zoomers a lot more.

I love LOVE love these videos and The Take for their thorough work. I truly do not mean to be a troll, but New Girl is not a portrayal of millennials. They were around 30 when the 2008 recession hit, making them Gen X-ers who, in an episode, made fun of millennial teens. I also really appreciate this video as I often get onto both sides about seeing differences as opposition between the generations and fostering a similar relationship that has been established between boomers and millennials. We are so much more alike than we think. There is also a problem with Millenial ending with 95 because those who establish the generational gaps could not have accounted for the digital age. Most kids born between 95 and 99 experienced an entire childhood without the digital age intervening and did not see a total immersion unit their later high school years. This makes them somewhere in the middle and being denied by both groups.

Born in '95 is like being the middle child of generations, watching your older and younger siblings fight and while you get both sides you can't bring yourself to care

As a person who cusps both gens, this is really only embarassing lol. Like just let people live

flares/bootcut low rise jeans were in back in early 2000s (us millennials) skinny jeans came later

Whenever my younger relatives make fun of my generational tastes or if I don’t get their references, I tell them in a low and mockingly sad voice “. . . and to think you only have this many years until someone younger makes fun of you for the same thing.” The face they make after is priceless 😁

If the only thing that bothers people about my generation is having a side part, slim jeans and Harry Potter, it means we did not f**** up that much

I always saw Harry Potter sorting houses like astrology. Some people take astrology WAY too seriously, so I'm not surprised it's like that with the sorting houses.

I love laughing at the "war" but could never buy into it because my kid sister is on the cusp and our relationship keeps me in touch. I would never want to compete with her, I want her to thrive, when I see here facing my same struggles I want to support her, and her energy is an amazing resource since age is starting to slow me down. We are stronger together.

Yep there's nothing new under the sun and every youngest generation think they are the first ones to do anything. That's life.

I take issue with the perceived "authenticity" of newer social media.

I’m Gen X, we were called slackers, and then everyone forgot we existed, but I love the grunge era and MTV playing videos

Late 90s when you're stuck between both influences of millennials and gen z. I'm a '97 and I remember playing with my parent's flip phone to having my first phone in the 2010s. So I had the millennials texting habbits. Google in 1998 and RU-vid was founded in 2005, and I grew up as a child with the rise of those platforms as well as Instagram. I like the curated feed that stem from millennials with topics of escapism of gen z aesthetics. I also have the values of inclusion and acceptence and tolerance for the future of our generation. So, it's weird for me seeing this war. Maybe it's more prominent for the younger gen z than me who already belongs to the oldest category of them. We are inspired and shaped from past generations.

"Skirts should be the size of a belt." That made me laugh.

As a high school teacher...the parents of gen Z kids are not even close to laid back. Teachers now call them lawnmower parents because they clear every possible obstacle out of the way of the student. It really is detrimental to a kid's development. It also makes it so much more difficult to build positive relationships because the parents go in assuming that teachers are villains.

I've met a lot of Gen Z. They're just younger Millennials to me.

Here’s the actual date difference between the two, you’re welcome. Gen Y: 1980-1996 Gen Z: 1997-2014

"You deserve paid work!" "I can't *get* paid work!" she rebutted, exhasperated. "I just graduated from Cornell with a business degree." Her friend punctuated this statement with a knowing flourish, atesting the obviousness of this statement. "That's the worst Ivy."

As a millennial in her mid 30s, I'm too old to care about this. I'll dress how I want, do my hair and makeup how I want and eat how I want. I've had people my entire life telling me who I have to be and how I should look. I'm not doing that anymore. I'm especially not going to let a bunch of kids on a social media platform I don't even bother with dictate what I wear and think. I hated trends when I was their age then, and I hate following trends now, especially since I'm seeing the crap that was in back then coming back. This so-called war is everywhere online now, and it's annoying. There's more important things to worry about than how I'm parting my hair.

The real issue is millinnials going through the mid life crisis in their twenties. And GenZ might even earlier.

as an older gen z kid i feel like both millennials and zoomers are just. doing their best existing in a society that is wrong? and coping in different ways? and yeah, some tiktoks are not funny anymore because this so called war was just a joke and skme people turned it into a toxic competition but yeah, i feel like we're trying to achieve the same thing

It’s so weird because I’m a young millennial, right on the border of millennial/gen-z and we have basically everything in common so I don’t get the “war”. like so many said, it’s just for lame tik tok content. for the most part, we’re all fighting for progressive movements and a better future in general, so these people making a war of 2 generations filled of amazing intelligent/educated/empathetic people is honestly just so harmful to working together for a better future and planet.

There is always a "war" between generations. It's natural to be protective of your childhood because it is a precious time for most people. When gen z gets older, the generation after them will make fun of them too. The only difference now is that there is social media and some people have no shame.

As someone who is gen z, I hate the millennial argument bc one day I’m going to be in that situation with gen alpha

as gen gen z i have nothing against millenials. heck, my favorite comics and cartoon shows were made by millenials. The yt channels i watched growing up were millenial's chanels. I think both gen z and millenials are cool people.

All these fashion and societal trends that Gen Z think they started were actually started by generations before them

Meanwhile, Gen X is over here in our black Maybelline eyeliner, listening to The Cure, secure that no one cares about us at all, oh well, whatever, never mind.

As a young millennial, this whole “war” going on with millennials and gen z is some of the dumbest shit I have ever seen and completely pointless lol. The media (especially sites like buzzfeed) has really pushed this idea of millennials vs. gen z, and both generations are falling for it. Also, I hope both generations realize they are more alike than they are different and will/have unfortunately suffer the same consequences in life when it comes to money, jobs, getting house due to the boomers fucking everything up for the newer generations to come.

As a millenial, I actually like Gen Z more than the older generations. They are more open and liberal, more accepting of social differences. I love how inclusive they are.

I need to add this thought to the picture, as the millenial, I feel a little more compassionate towards the Gen Z guys because we went through the times that we did. I've been there Covid is the third time the rug was taken from under my feet, I get the struggle. I find it easier to relate to the Zoomer then the Boomer.

As a 30 year old millennial, I actually have no qualms with gen z. I appreciate that they fight harder for social causes and authenticity. Also dealing with mental health, emotional issues and traumas. The bullshit about skinny jeans and side parts are aesthetic lies because you should wear whatever aesthetic you want no matter how old you are. I'm happy i didn't get a trophy for everything and had star fighter parents. The bullshit trends tell the difference between sheep who follow and people who actually think for themselves and see the bigger picture of their world. Social media isn't everything but it is a great tool.

„born between the mid-90s and early 2010s are now hitting the workforce“ watch my 8-year old nephew pull up in his domino‘s uniform

Age has nothing do with using tik toks . So many gen z or millennials use it! Stereotyping is just foolish. Literally any age can like baggy jeans, skinny jeans or be on the internet all day. Or thrifting. Im 25 and I dont care about tik toks or the clubs. While other 25 olds love it

I'd be interested in a few thoughts on the situation outside of the US.

Everything is cyclical. I’m Gen X. I was a 90s teen. I remember 70s style making a comeback... bell bottoms and saddle shoes, prairie dresses with floral prints. We swore we were the first to do it and you couldn’t tell us sh*t. I remember my aunt looking at my outfit of bell bottoms and chunky Steve Madden shoes and asking “what the f*ck is going on?” 😆 She swore up and down that she would never wear that stuff again because she grew up with it and hated it the first time around. At the time I didn’t understand her ire. Now being an adult and watching “the youngins” call yoga pants, flared leggings and listening to them sh*t on a universally flattering Jean style (depending on the rise) did trigger me. Then I had to take a a step back. I had to laugh. It will always be this way. I remember watching old footage of teens in the 60s shading old people for being out of touch and the old people not understanding the “flower child” and “free love” trend and calling “The Doors” devil music. It is what it is. Eventually the next Generation after Y will shade them just as hard and they will (temporarily) get in their feelings just as every generation before them. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Wait, there’s a Millennial vs Gen Z war going on?

My parents are gen x hippies asf they are super hands off with my siblings and I. I'm 22 and they have said they'll only intervene in my life if I get out of control but that hasn't happened. They just let me do whatever I want, and for the most part and have faith I can succeed.

Turning 25 this year and I don't feel like either, but I also can relate to things with both. 🤨

Millenials are too old to care about this feud and Gen Z are too young to realise how cringy this whole thing is

I think it’s also important to think about how generational divides are different in different parts of the world. Most generational stereotyping is based on the USA (which is understandable, the US is a media culture), but growing up in a different country also changes that gap.

i dont think any of us millennium kids bought the self estemm bs, we all knew growingh up who was achieving and who wasnt

Ok, so I don’t get it. Zendaya, who’s my age, is supposed to be a Gen Z star, but I identify very strongly as a Millennial because I don’t use or like TikTok, nor do I think Mental Illness is trendy. What do u guys think?

I'm 20, hate parting my hair in the middle, love my skinny jeans, use "🤣" all the time and thanks to you, I feel very old and very uncool right now 😅

" the economy stinks bees are dying and movies are all pretty much a sequel"sounds pretty much 2021 to me

dedicate to people who are iterested in anthropology (science, not clothes) I'm a Millennial and here's my testimony about my generation, at least European one. We were raised on dinosaurs and positivity about the future, we were taught that everybody regardless of their talents are equal, that anybody given effort would sucess in life. Our teenage hood unfortunately, was soon shatered by 911 event and countless of other terrorist attacks throughout Europe. - Life suddenly became very fragile. We came of age during economic crisis where our relatives got literally their retirement funds just written off. A realization hit again like a wrecking ball,- no hope for the future. I remember a psychology class in university, lecturer asked us about the plans for the future, where do we see ourselves in 5 years. Entire theater of students, IT students of all else!!, were severely depressed about the matter. So we just said fk it - life's too short and there's no hope anyway - we fell into the trap of consumerism. Owning "luxury" brand clothes were the desired outcome, buying iphones every god damn year became a status of acceptability into society, posting mostly fake rosy life on SM to show all of that - the norm. Suddenly we started disliking how WE look on said SM - kardashians and their never ending plastic surgery push came into play. ... And then we finally returned to the real world and my god did it become worse... Economy? - arguably same as 2008 just nobody bothers calling it a crisis anymore. Violence and torture are not a thing from the movies and video games - they were directly taken from life (I remember people talking "That video from NZ shooting - just like the game!!!") and what's worse - we got desensitized about it... Terrorism? - still alive and going. War? Slavery? - apparently not the problem of people in history textbooks. Climate change and healthcare somehow became a gambling chip for political parties?... Gen X was dubbed a the xanax generation (btw Prozac generation was my edgy teenagegirl book of choice), we're - the fentanyl and wine generation. Difference is that we, although knowing that it's hopeless, still try or at least pretend to do something about glaring issues...

Next generation vid should be on the parallel similarities between gen x and gen z. I'm gen z and me and my friends came up with a lot of parallels between the 2 and parallels between boomers millenials and alpha.

this whole war is just yt ppl doing their thing😭

"Mid to late 1980's and early 1990's are hitting middle age" As a child of '93, uhhh,, EXCUSE ME I AM IM MY TWENTIES HOW IS THAT MIDDLE AGE, MA'AM

Can we all agree on one thing X and Y and Z - We all LOVE the 1980s 🏅🏆😁😎❤️🍺🍻🥃👏

Love your videos!!

My teacher during quarantine: other generations were called to go to war, your generation is called to lie on the couch. Also my teacher: had a real high school and college graduation, went to parties, enjoyed their youth

I'm a millennial but my mom was a gen x. A lot of our parents were. I'm 29 lol

I hope that there’s more proof that Zoomers and Millennials aren’t that different. I mostly see it through my brother and I; he’s a Millennial *30* and I’m a Zoomer *19 approaching 20*, and honestly..we have a good relationship. Granted I was terrified of him when I was younger and I still kind of am, we’ve bonded a lot over the past few years through shared hobbies, shows, and now through him guiding me through college. He’s really one of the few people in my family I feel okay with just being myself cuz he doesn’t really show a lot whether he’s proud or disappointed. Could be a good example that Gen Z and Millennials can get along.

The "Androgynous" Look Took Place In The Mid-1970's. Lol! 😂

i never see poc in these “wars”😭

Me, a millennial: I don't have Tiktok, GenZ hating us is news to me (😂 X100000000)

So happy for all the comments here, I too and right in the middle and don’t relate fully to either. I’m not middle age god damn it! Although I watched this video ready to finally not hear trashing on millennials and the first half was Still saying all the negatives about them (I’m sure it was for context to explain why there shouldn’t be a war but honestly can we please just hear some more positive about them)

Most of these generational stereotypes and life experiences apply only to USians. Latin american millennial experience is so different from the explanation here... for starters our parents are Gen Xers and we were never given any participation trophies. The older kids would raise the younger kids. I am pretty sure there are other cultures that can also identify out of this.

I'm a 24yo Gen Z, and I love that I'm right in between generations, I was able to see clearly the difference of these two. I grew up with this: 16:42 which is so real, and I feel that even though Gen Z is really making a difference on all this sexism problems (among others), Millenials were the ones who really started it, basically Millenials walked so Gen Z could run. This "war" is more like a fun joke than a real fight, both generations actually really love and learn from each other. I wear mom jeans and yoga pants, I use the laughing and crying emoji, I'm an activist, I still have facebook, I used to watch movies on DVD, I post on tiktok, I'm the best in my house in technology, I love wine (hate coffe)... I'm basically a mix of Gen Y and Gen Z, and I love it!!!

I honestly really admire the new generation. There are lots of smart, resilient, creative and resourceful teens and young adults. You're doing great sweetie.

As a millenial i just need a good decade to my life back on track. I just turned 40th....This is my decade damn it!. This is my decade to get a good job, buy a house, get a girlfriend, maybe have a kid....This is my decade damn it. Cman man!

I’m older millennial my son is a late teen Zoomer, I find we are more similar than I was with my boomer parents, my son gets music art fashion sayings and tech from 90s 00s and I get zoomer music art fashion sayings etc

As a young millenial, I didn't even know there was a war going on between the millenials and the Z's, but okay. We all got fucked over the same way, lol. We get each other. 💀Kudos to you Gen Z kids, we see you.💖✊

Anyone else in-betweeners? I’m in between both generations at 96’ so I feel like I relate to everything in this video which is odd...

Hi @TheTake! Can we have a video about the group of people born between 1995 to 2000? Like am I a Millennial or Gen-Z? We don't have a generation to fit in perfectly with.

Damn. My 27 year old ass is definitely getting old because I had no idea that any of this was even happening.

I mean Friends and HIMYM were also about adulting and struggling. It’s been like this since getting married right out of school stopped being the norm. Besides, being a middle-class millennial isn’t the same as being a working-class millennial and it varies greatly from country to the next.

Y2K Fashions are a reminder that our sheltered childhoods were amazing.

"These kids with their damn cellphones, selfies, and TikToks" So what? It's THEIR childhoods, let them have this.

Your video essays are the best on RU-vid and I love your insights and the way you not only understand your privilege but also make sure to not let it affect the analyses you give. That's something that's still pretty rare unfortunately but I'm very happy that I get to watch and listen to your content because of the way you provide context, history, terminology and use credible sources. My only suggestion would be to take postcoloniality into your analyses. I'm a Pakistani woman who was born in 1997. Over here the internet didn't become widely available until the mid to late 2000s, and even then we were using modems that would stop working whenever the landline telephone would be used. Wifi became a thing here after 2010, my home personally got wifi in the latter half of 2012. We also didn't have digital devices, just a desktop computer, till 2011 when I got an iPod touch 3g. My first phone in 2012 was touch screen but it was so primitive RU-vid barely worked, let alone WhatsApp or twitter. What I'm trying to say is that the fact that I'm from a 3rd world country fundamentally changed the way I grew up as compared to the gen z people you have talked about. This gen z identity only works for westerners: Europeans and north Americans, to name a few. And altho the issues of class and wage exist, the living standard of the average person who lives in the west is significantly higher than that of the average person who lives in south asia and Africa. Even if you take my narrative into consideration, I only represent a small section of my population, most of whom are uneducated, poor and subsequently are not part of the internet community. This means they don't count in this debate at all, I only mentioned this to illustrate the stark difference of privilege between us and westerners, and how it has fundamentally impacted our narratives. I'm emphasizing the narratives of global south natives because we exist in a system and society gravely altered by and to this day influenced by colonialism and imperialism. I honestly think that if any mainstream and well known and followed channel that might possibly take postcoloniality into consideration, it's you guys. It could be like a lil segment, nothing too major or in depth. Referring to your video on fanfiction being the new mode of expression in film and tv, I personally always felt connected to characters like Jo March, Matilda and Lizzy Bennet growing up, because back then there was no form of exposure and the idea of race didn't exist for me. But you can probably tell that I have never really seen myself represented in western media. If there's a south asian that person is usually a caricature and is designated as being from India as if that's the only south asian country that exists. But even if we take diaspora representation into account that still doesn't represent us, not because they aren't a part of us but because of the systemic and historical significance of difference between the western countries where they live versus the third world countries we live in. Places like mexico and the middle east are shown as corrupt and dangerous, Africans and south asians esp are shown as alien and exotic, as if we're an entirely different species. And the fact that every Westerner only knows about India is quite disrespectful to not only Indians, who become the constant target of orientalism, but also shows extreme ignorance on the part of westerners .