Gen-z vs. Accusations of narcissism: Is our generation self-obsessed or in fact, passionately empathetic?
ART By tania yakunova
From generation to generation, a peculiar period during which the preceding generation dissects and often ridicules the choices and ideals of the succeeding generation, and vice versa, has come to be expected.
Now, with the added factor of social media to accentuate the prevalence of these generational comparisons, the latest in this rite of passage has manifested into an ongoing, trivial social media “feud” between the so-called Zoomers, or Gen-z, consisting of youth typically born after 1996, and Millennials, who are known to be born between the years 1981 and 1996.
This “feud” follows that which has taken place between Millennials and the so-called Boomers, the generation said to be born between 1946 and 1964. This clash follows the age-old notion that each generation will live to be disappointed in their successors, as the youth will continue to actively reject what those born in the generations ahead of them may expect of them.
The most trivial aspects of this newer “feud” have been in the most recent trend debates between Gen-z and Millennials. Gen-z has actively rejected largely insignificant Millennial-influenced trends, such as side parts, skinny jeans and so on, which a loud handful of Millennials have seemed to take to heart, igniting the flame within the already significant fire that is generational feuds.
Outside of the trivial, however, Gen-z has been accused of being self-involved and overly sensitive by preceding generations, including Millennials. In a period during which the formerly taboo is no longer taboo, and the unconventional is more widely accepted, it looks to be that former generations have yet to understand the implications of this change.
Gen-z has become widely known as the generation to speak out on issues that maynot have previously been accepted or tolerated, but in today’s social climate, do not hold weight in the realm of political correctness. What older generations are, however, missing in their criticism of Gen-z, is that this is not necessarily a bad thing. Being more sensitive about what one says or does has played a large part in people’s growing ability to be open about their sexual orientation and identification, as well as opened up room for a multitude of orientations and sexualities to be publicly validated.
This sensitivity has also extended to issues as they relate to classism, racism, ableism, sizeism, mental health issues, and the works, yet has still been misinterpreted as over sensitivity. In actuality, this might be the necessary type of sensitivity towards others that has been lacking in preceding generations and as a consequence, resulted in the inability for human beings to feel comfortable expressing themselves as authentically as they can manage.
However, this does not negate the fact that there has been a lot of negativity that has come with the prospect of political correctness as well. The aim to be sensitive to others has seen this seemingly positive prospect being warped. In example, with the slow de-stigmatization of the display of the natural human body, persons of all shapes and sizes have become more and more comfortable showing off their bodies, whatever the type. With that said, however, people have also developed an openness with regards to their unhappiness with their own body types, which has sometimes warranted some unfair criticism.
In cases where people have expressed their want to lose weight, whether it be due to their own dissatisfaction with their appearance, or for their own health benefit, social medic critics have taken to accusing these people of fatphobia for wanting to transform their bodies. This is but one of many examples that reveals that once the aim to be sensitive enters the realm of criticizing a person’s valid personal decisions, the idea then manifests into a concept seeped in toxicity rather than being an agent of positive change.
Ultimately, it can be argued that Gen-z is perhaps both self-obsessed and empathetic. Self-obsessed in the sense that we may have come to thrive off of attention, even if that means inappropriately applying political correctness to situations in aim of seeming socially sensitive, but not actually being so, and empathetic in our willingness to be sensitive to those who have previously lacked the presence of appropriate sensitivity that would enable them to inch closer towards being their most authentic selves.
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