No one ever says, “Wow. That’s just those Generation X kids,” or, “She is such a baby boomer!” In contrast, each member of today’s younger generation is categorized as being just another millennial in a spoiled and dumb youth population.
Although all generations are compared to the generation before them, no other generation has ever been placed under such scrutiny.
Millennials have been so harshly criticized that Fox News hosts argue that members of our generation, especially women, lack the judgment to vote properly. They say we should just go back to Tinder and leave the important, worldly business to the real adults.
Marketing ploys targeted our demographic center around sex, social media and the next iPhone update. We are thought to have no more depth than a Starbucks mocha latte and a series of Tinder hookups.
Yes, our generation is different from the rest. Just like Generation X is different from the baby boomers and the baby boomers are different from the Silent Generation, and Generation Z will differ from us. These changes are largely the result of social evolution and rapidly developing technology.
The millennial anthem is thought to be “Turn Down for What” because we lack a sense of intellectual depth and dedication to hard work.
I find our generation anything but lazy and unmotivated. We are the most well-informed generation. We are the most environmentally aware generation. We are the most creative generation.
Yes, maybe we haven’t seen a world war, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t seen terrorism and that we don’t have to worry about the threat of a future nuclear war.
We haven’t invented the radio, the telephone, television or Disney World. But we have helped pioneer the smartphone, found ways to cut down carbon emissions, produced great movies and books and advancements in globalization.
We have the weight of thousands of mistakes made by past generations squashing our shoulders and heads. We’re making mistakes, too. But who doesn’t?
We could run away from the major issues of our time: global warming, financial crises, terrorists, civil injustice and citizen surveillance, to name a few, but we haven’t.
On the whole, millennials maintain a bit of an idealistic view that we can still change the world. Isn’t that grand? Against all odds, we still keep our hope.
So, why the watchful eyes and mindless name-gaming directed toward our generation?
We may never know.
If “Turn Down for What” is what will define our generation in the history books to come, so be it. No negative connotations will be held in my mind.
I reject the notion that millennials will “turn down” in the face of adversity. We’re plugged into technology and the media, we’re shaping it more than ever before, and many of us are using it to help make the world a better place.
Turning up for equality and social justice might sound crazy, but maybe it’s so crazy, it just might work.
Kelsie Ozanne is a UF public relations sophomore.
[The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the Alligator.]
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 12/5/2014]
