MTV Generation

The MTV Generation is a term sometimes used to refer to people born between roughly 1975-1986, a generation whose adolescence and coming of age is perceived to have been heavily influenced by 1990s era popular culture in general and mass media in particular. Their early psychosocial exposure to these factors is thought to have been unprecedented and, along with peer pressure, resulted in a peculiar, homogenous youth culture defined by a deep appreciation of the fashion trends, perspective, attitude and music popularized by MTV and similar media (Viva, Triple J etc.) that rose to prominence in the late 1980s. Also note that "[w]ith the proliferation of technology, the internet, beepers and cell phones have become social lifelines for this generation. They are technology savvy, independent and resourceful."^[1]

According to the Generations theory of William Strauss and Neil Howe, it can be seen as a cusp between Generation X (1961-1981) and the Millennial Generation (1982-2001).^[2] They were born during the upsweep in birth numbers of the baby bust between the babybooms of 1946-64 (the Census Bureau classification of the baby boomers) and 1987-94.^[3]

History

An early recognition of this age range came in 1993 when AdAge published an editorial using the first known use of the term "Gen Y" to describe those born between 1974-1983. This was an attempt to note the differences between teenagers of the early 1990s vs those of the 1980s.^[4] In the book "When Generations Collide" the authors mention that those born between 1975-80 belong to an Xr Millennial Cusp, possessing the qualities associated of both generations.^[5] The book "Generations at Work- Managing the clash between Veterans, Boomers, Xrs, and Nexters in your workplace" refer to this group as "Gold Collar" employees due to their tech skills.^[6] There have also been a few studies posted online including "The Net Generation" by Joshua Glenn which spans between 1974-1983^[7] and "Census Scope"^[8] which features Gen Y as spanning from 1976-1985.

The phrase was featured on The Simpsons in the 1992 episode "Homer's Triple Bypass", with the characters Bart and Lisa referring to themselves as such, describing the MTV Generation as ones that "feel neither highs nor lows". When Homer asks what it's like, Lisa replies "meh".

Global factors defining the MTV Generation

Most notable factors relevant to the MTV Generation are the rise of computer and media technologies in the 1980s and 1990s, along with the major global political shifts that occurred at the end of and after the Cold War.

Cultural

• The last generation to appreciate its significance in a changing culture, specifically the shift from the hardwired, analogue technologies to the wireless, Digital Revolution; the last generation to grow up with such semi-obsolete items of the pre-digital era as VHS tapes, audio cassettes and vinyl records.
• The first generation to grow up with personal computers in the home.
• The introduction of the Nintendo and Atari gaming systems.
• The introduction of first-person shooters (e.g. DOOM) and online games (e.g. EverQuest)
• Early computer Educational software released by MECC such as the Oregon Trail and Number Munchers computer games.
• Early computer games like Prince of Persia, Test Drive and California Games.
• Creation of Carmen Sandiego character and games, TV shows.
• The worldwide popularity of The Simpsons
• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, with its vague associations with Bushido, white rap, and surf slang. Interest in some of the Asian martial arts (including, of course, Ninjutsu) temporarily spiked among teenagers in some areas due to the franchise's influence.
• The launch of Nickelodeon (TV channel) in 1979, one of the first channels geared to entertaining children.
• The launch of MTV in its early period before its mid-1990s makeover for predominantly pop music, rhythm and blues, hip hop culture and reality television. The popular tagline: "I want my MTV"--uttered by Veejays and performers on the network's advertisements and later included in the Dire Straits' Money for Nothing track--reflected the era's fascination with the new medium.
• Music influences stem mainly from MTV standards such as Madonna and Michael Jackson - mostly from The Like a Prayer & Dangerous years in the 1980s - but also include the rise of the Grunge music scene of the early 1990s, and the rising popularity of Hip hop and techno music through the 1980s and 1990s.
• The second generation to mostly be influenced through Television (especially Music Television) as the primary medium for information and entertainment (the first being the baby boom generation crossing over to the early Generation X - when TV came into becoming an item in every household during the 1950s) especially from children growing up in the 1980s to their teens in the 1990s.
• Films such as The Goonies, The Neverending Story and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial which featured children in opposition to adults and oppressive or impersonal systems of law.
• Transformers, Thunder Cats, M.A.S.K., Masters of the Universe and other toyline (franchises) centered around the primary theme of alien/high tech/supernatural combat occurring at large in a disguised form, but also containing strong modernist/morally absolutist themes which have been more recently removed in revised versions of these fictional scenarios.

Political

• The fall of the Berlin Wall November 9, 1989 and German reunification on October 3, 1990. - One of the two major moments to define the MTV Generation
• The end of the Cold War (1990-91)
• The First Gulf War (1991)
• Space Shuttle Challenger explosion
• Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster (April 1986)
• The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
• The Waco Siege
• The 1992 Los Angeles riots
• The premierships of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and the presidency of Ronald Reagan succeeded later by George H. W. Bush
• June 18, 1981, the official date for the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and the 1985 World Health Organization AIDS surveillance case definition
• The Satanic ritual abuse panic throughout the 1980s and up to the mid 1990s, bringing Satanism back into the mass media's eye
• The Iran-Contra Affair, a 1987 political scandal in the United States involving President Ronald Reagan's administration who sold arms to Iran, an avowed enemy. At the time, Americans were being held hostage in Lebanon by Hezbollah, a militant Shi'a organization loyal to Ayatollah Khomeini
• The release of Nelson Mandela and end of Apartheid in South Africa.
• The launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

The distinct end of Generation X.

• The Invasion of Panama that deposed Manuel Noriega in December 1989.
• In 1989, Czechoslovakia became a democratic country again through the Velvet revolution. In 1992, the federal parliament decided to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as of January 1, 1993.
• Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster prison, near Cape Town, South Africa February 11, 1990.
• July 20, 1990, London Stock Exchange, the IRA exploded a large bomb at the London Stock Exchange causing massive damage.
• The Gulf War in 1991. - The war that truly defined the MTV Generation, just as the Vietnam War defined Generation X and the Iraq War define Generation Y.
• The fall of the Soviet Union, and beginning of "New World Order" July 1991 marking the end of the Cold War since 1941 between the United States and Soviet Union. - The second of the two most important moments in defining Generation XY.
• November 22, 1990, at just after 9.30 am, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher announced to her cabinet that she would not be a candidate in the second ballot of the vote to determine the leader of the British Conservative Party, thereby bringing her term of office as Prime Minister to an end.
• The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ceases to exist. Slovenia and Croatia gain independence January 15, 1992
• Signing of the Maastricht treaty, which founded the European Union February 7, 1992.
• In eastern Turkey, an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500 March 13, 1992.
• The siege of Ruby Ridge, Idaho by U.S. Marshalls against Randy Weaver during August 1992.
• Bill Clinton defeats George H. W. Bush and Ross Perot in the U.S. presidential election, 1992, November 3.
• 1993 confrontation between U.S. federal agents and the Branch Davidians - Siege of Waco.
• Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, is found dead April 8, 1994, in Seattle, Washington. He had apparently committed suicide three days earlier. - A death that marked the MTV Generation as opposed to Elvis Presley for the baby boomers.
• May 1, 1994, Formula One driver Ayrton Senna is killed during the San Marino Grand Prix.
• Brazil wins the 1994 Football World Cup which is held in the USA.
• The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by Yigal Amir on November 4, 1995, after attending a rally promoting the Oslo process at Tel Aviv's Kings of Israel Square (which was renamed to Yitzhak Rabin Square after his death).
• The Dunblane massacre occurring at a primary school in the small town of Dunblane in central Scotland on Wednesday, 13 March 1996.
• September 7, 1996 Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting. This was later followed by the murder of Christopher Wallace aka The Notorious B.I.G. who was shot and killed in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997 - resulting in the end of the Hip hop rivalries between East Coast's Bad Boy Records and the West Coast's Death Row Records.
• The end of British sovereignty over Hong Kong July 1, 1997.
• On July 10, 1997, the Joe Camel campaign was retired and replaced with a more adult campaign, thus ending the use of the famed Camel Cigarettes mascot advertising that cigarettes were "cool to smoke".

See also

• List of generations
• Cold Y Generation

References

1. ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MJT/is_6_14/ai_112905386?tag=untagged
2. ^ William Strauss & Neil Howe. (1997). The Fourth turning: An American prophecy. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
3. ^ CDC Report (January 11, 2007) National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved February 5th, 2007 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statab/t001x01.pdf.
4. ^ "Who's filling Gen Y's Shoes"? by Pete Markiewicz. BrandChannel.com, Retrieved June 25th 2008. http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=156
5. ^ When Generations Collide- Who they are. Why they clash. How to solve the generational puzzle at work. Lancaster, Stillman. 2002 New York. Ch. 3 Pg. 38
6. ^ Generations at Work- Managing the clash between Veterans, Boomers, Xrs, and Nexters in your workplace. Zemke, Raines, Filipczak. 2000 New York Ch. 4 Pg. 105
7. ^ Joshua Glenn .The Net Generation. WWW.Boston.com. Retrieved June 25th, 2008 http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/2008/03/net_generation.html
8. ^ United States Dominate Generations. CensusScope. Retrieved June 25th, 2008 http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_generations.html

External links

• Gen (X+Y) + WTC =? - coming of age in a time of cataclysm.
• Births per year in the US - Census of births per year in the "All Races" column. 1975-85 is on the first page.