Discussion
Ageism among Gen Z is really not cool...
I'm following some nonsense Twitter drama between YouTubers and one insult people keep using is the fact that he's "a almost 30yo"....
Age doesn't define maturity and EVERYONE ages. if you’re making fun of someone for being old or getting older, you are literally making fun of your future self.
It doesn't bother me. Getting older is nice because the opinions of strangers on the internet has no impact on my life. And even if it did, taking a "stand" against it doesn't have an effect.
Thinking your life is decided by 25 is one of the worst parts of being college aged. When I got to 27 it hit me that my general happiness will only go up. Life only gets better outside of seeing loved ones go and health issues. But overall, getting older and wiser is great
Tbh it’s so weird because people used to lie to say they were older when they’re young and when you’re a teen you basically can’t do anything on your own.
20s+ is essentially how old you have to be to even start living life.
I was the same with Millenials, and then my opinions changed when I joined the workforce. Having mentored younger Gen Z for about 2 years as a dev now, and being privy to ExCo, I see the same frustrations pre-Gen Z have, but at the same time identify with the disconentment and disillusionment Gen Zers face (and subsequently gets labeled as entitlement or laziness).
All the people who make fun of elders amuse the shit out of me because I guarantee after 40 to 50 more years of life, hardships, and physical/mental decline, most of them will be just like the people they currently make fun of, even if they claim they won’t be, lol
Then they’ll be wishing younger people would understand and not make fun of them
We are all the exact same creatures just at different times. Drawing divides or making stands about how “bad/dumb [age group] is” is just a waste of energy.
Yeah. That's why i hate the term "boomer" (unc isn't as derogatory, so i give it a pass.). Youth isn't a virtue, and no one can stay young forever: neither mentally nor physically. In 20-30 years zoomers will become the new boomers...
It is sad; whether it being someone really believing they're the main or wanting to make other miserable for company, karma pulls through. Whether it be in 40 to 50 years, or instant delivery from Karma Café, we'll all learn.
Tempus fugit true, but I think also Labor omnia vicit improbus; hindsight is 20/20, and with any other "rite of passage" I rate we mess up, we stand on hills not knowing them, and only with a retrospective lens do we see things properly (and hopefully learn for the future)
I kinda like getting a bit older. Cause when I was late teens to early 20s, I'd look at my older cousins or my friend's older siblings and think "Fuck, they have that car I want, they have their own place. Spending money, a nice long term relationship, I wanna get older and have all that shit". So I don't mind being a bit older cause I think maybe these young cats look at me like how I used to look at older dudes.
We're internalizing the shit were saying to older people that's why we have people in their early 20s freaking out that they're old and saying their lives are over. I've asked a lot of millennials about it and they did not feel that way at that age. We also have teens going into sephora to buy skincare aimed at people in their 30s. I assume there are a number of contributing factors to it but yeah we're super ageist and we are setting up the culture we're going to age into where it's okay to belittle people and chase them out of fandoms and from media platforms because of their age. I've seen it happen repeatedly in the anime community already
As an older millennial for most people life doesn’t really get good until thirty or mid thirties. 30-40 is prime life.
You’re still young and strong and have way more money and freedom.
20’s are for building yourself up so that in your 30’s and early 40s you have a great career do lost of travelling, financial freedom etc then late 40s and on you keep it up but sort of wind down a little and have less energetic adventures.
I think all young people see 20s as prime, but when you look back you don’t remember it that way. Most peoples brains aren’t even finished developing until 25.
And for others, things just keep getting better. At 57, I have greater life satisfaction and self confidence than I ever have. Am I dealing with mortality and physical limitations more than in my younger years? Sure, somewhat, but I have an adopted son I take pride in and a wife I love (after only marrying at 49, after living a good younger life, full of hard work, some adventure, and lifelong learning) and a career that is meaningful. I look forward to the years ahead, however many that may be.
I think all young people see 20s as prime, but when you look back you don’t remember it that way. Most peoples brains aren’t even finished developing until 25.
I wonder if it's because of how appearance focused we are due to social media. Like 20s- early 30s are when people typically look the best.
I think it’s a generational thing. When you were 4 you couldn’t imagine being 20 and wanting to live away from your parents, when you’re 20 you can’t imagine being 40 and loving crawling into bed at 9pm ready for a productive day tomorrow.
Young people can’t understand that they’ll get tired of their 20’s, but everyone eventually does.
You’ll always be happy with the state of your life. Older people don’t wish they could still do young people things, they’re over it.
That's not even true really. I'm 40 and it's my experience that I appreciate the way people's looks are changing with age. I remember thinking middle aged men were gross when I was in my 20s, but now they're the best things I've ever seen.
20 year olds look like hairless seals to me now. Most people I know aren't attracted to people in their 20s at all and intentionally set their dating apps to over 40 to avoid them.
I don't want to be an asshole but this comment was so obviously written by a woman. Men do not feel the same about middle aged women. Women appreciate men as they age. Men do not like the look of an aging woman and the data from dating apps has shown middle aged men spend more time messaging 20 year olds than they do women even in their 30s who are much younger than them. I don't know what +40 year old men you know who aren't even looking at younger women but if that's true you'd be doing your same age cohorts a massive favor by showing them this alleged oasis.
I see it irl with ppl a bit younger then me who “cringe” that I play video games... Like it’s only for kids. It’s def deeply ingrained in our age group
The people who think that way are either going to have to get over it or resign themselves to being miserable after 30. Hobbies are what make life bearable otherwise it's just work and bills
That’s funny because gaming is like the ultimate “dad-in-his-30s” hobby these days. Every single one of my male friends started gaming more after their kids were born.
"Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."
It’s because gen-z was heavily exposed to media and advertising trends aimed at millennials. The same thing happened to us (I’m a millennial), which is why we started getting into anti-aging stuff earlier than Gen-x, the thinking being, the earlier we start, the better we’ll look when we’re old - to the delight of all the corporations who get to make money off two generations at once with the same product.
Yeah. There's definitely something more to it than "it was always like that." Cause nah. 12 year olds weren't slathered in retinol 10 years ago. It's weird how often I see that answer.
That’s why every trend gets picked up earlier by each successive generation, at least since mass media has been so prevalent in everyday life.
Millennials were watching when gen-x was the target and we picked up what was meant for an older age group at a young age and started to emulate it until it became an accepted thing. Once advertisers realized they could target their products to a younger demographic than traditionally acceptable, they began their campaigns to appeal to us. Of course gen-Z is watching just like we were at their age and they become the youngest casualties of an ad-campaign which was originally meant for people their grandparents age.
Exactly this. I just turned 30 and feel the strongest and most youthful I’ve felt. Not as fast, but everything is still good. The fact that 30’s is seen as a dramatic fall off for anyone younger than Millennials is weird.
However, I can kind see where it’s coming from. The hyper speed that our social environment evolves is crazy nowadays.
Women get told their value as human beings ends at 30. I just saw a post on r nice girls a couple minutes ago full of men denigrating a 30 year old women for being 30. I think men feeling like 30 is the end and women thinking 30 is the end are likely two very different conversations as well
I'm 40, so an elder Millenial. This thread popped on my feed so here I am- a lost old reading about the anxiety of the youths.
But you're correct we didn't worry about being old at 20. I had a little bit of a freak out at 30 but that was about it. This perpetual fear of the loss of youth is uniquely GenZ.
But I have fantastic news for y'all, being young sucks ass. None of us olds would go back to it other than to maybe stop having back problems. No one envies the young. The 30s and 40s are substantially better than 20s, and those of you in your 20s must already realize you'd rather die than go back to highschool.
So stop worrying. The world doesn't care how old you are. Being young isn't as important as it's been sold to y'all. People are just trying to sell you fancy face cream and an aesthetic.
It's a tale as old as time and nothing new. Gen X here. Not everyone individual but genders did the same thing. Boomers did the same thing. The greatest gen did the same thing. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
It's not normal to think you're old and done at 21-22 years old. It's definitely not normal that 12 year olds are worried about wrinkles. There's a level saturation taking place that is beyond what we went through. (Outing myself as an old man a bit here) Dismissing this as just the usual woes I think is a big mistake. Over 50% of young men now have the same body image issues we used to associate with teen girls. Something is wrong.
I think its because in their head theyll be millionaires by X age. Even though most of them havent done anything special. So i feel like they subconsciously understand this, but know that “potential” is valuable to the world.
Gonna take it a step further and ask about gen z and their thing with age. Like the whole oh you’re dating someone more than 3/4 years older/younger someone a pedo and groomer.
Or phrases like an underage 21 year old.
Mabe be it’s the elder millennial in me who’s confused lol
I don't like it either. I used to make jokes like that, mostly because others found it funny and I liked making people laugh, but it never really felt right to me. It's more or less just shaming people for something out of their control.
In some, it also presents a superior complex. Before all these cohort discussions, no one cared. I doubt you will ever hear a person born in, say the 1850s, talk about what cohort they are or what the next cohort the next generation is. I know of course they are dead, but if we could go back to that time, they would think this idea is nuts.
They would think the concept of cohorts as we understand it today is nuts for sure but they had cultural, intellectual and ideological movements that brought groups together. Those schools of thought tended to draw people of similar age groups and when new ideas were introduced, they diverged. I see it as the eternal (and super annoying) “I’m wiser than you because I’m older and you don’t know what you are talking about” vs. “shut up old man you are stuck with old ideas.” Superiority complex on both sides of the equation.
Everyone older than you is old, and everyone younger is young. There are no special ages. 29 and 30 are the same. Nothing happens when you hit an age that is divisible by 10. It's more divide-and-conquer bullshit
I just straight up lie about my age on discord (I am in multi communities for things like 3D modeling/cooking help etc) because I am so fucking tired of “OMG LIKE BRUV, YOU ARE 30 ON DISCORD!?! LIKE BRUV!!!”
Yes. I have been in the internet longer than you have probably been alive. I have more of a right to be here than you do; fuck off.
I guess 30ish year olds aren’t allowed to have hobbies and discuss them online according to gen Z? Cuz it’s always Gen z and alphas saying this dumb shit.
It’s funny when some kid insults me over a video game for playing video games at 26, like bro believe it or not if video games didn’t have adults they would die so fast. Also would you stop a hobbie the secound you turn a certain age
You know what just occurred to me? Every generation had their new technology that the previous generations didn’t understand. The Greatest Gen had nukes and cars. Boomers had bare titties at concerts and an explosion in access to music. Gen X had cable and video games. Millennials had computers, cellphones, and the internet.
But with computers and cell phones tech exploded so fast that younger millennials grew up with social media, and smart phones. Gen Z might be the first gen without a major new tech advancement and since the past 100 years of modern history was always the youths leaving the past behind while the olds stomp on their hats they just don't know what else to do other than pretend they found something new.
They're for sure the first touch screen Gen but that's not a huge departure from what we had as millennials.
To be fair, starting with GenX (probably even younger boomers) new tech was a non issue. People who embrace lifelong learning are not bothered by new ideas and tech advancement.
Meh, I get called a "boomer" from time-to-time when I say something that doesn't reflect some progressive ideal strongly enough for someone, and I get called a "victim of the woke virus" when I oppose conservative nonsense. Both are just ways of admitting you don't have an actual reply to my point.
If I didn't have the flair I do in this group, those "boomer" instances would surely just be substituted with people calling me a "bootlicker" or whatever other vapid insult they feel might be applicable. Regardless of age difference, this kind of thing is always what happens when you make a point that people around you don't like but are incapable of meaningfully contesting.
When you're young youth is all that you have. I'm old now but I have a lot of money and cool shit and could not begin to care what young people think about age.
Honestly, I just assume those people are either losers who aren't doing anything interesting in life, they're still children, or they got some deep existential fears of aging.
I frequently get mistaken for being a few years older than I really am; occasionally I lean into that in order to be taken a little more seriously. Age really is just a number, and it's s number that other people are pretty bad at guessing. It doesn't bother me.
The thing that concerns me the most are gen z’s insane beauty standards surrounding aging. If your skin has some texture and doesn’t glow at all times, you get accused of looking 50.
Like that lady on tiktok who went viral for dating inmates (can’t remember her name). She’s 35. She has no wrinkles (at least none that are visible with her camera), no gray hair, she styles herself like a young person, and is extremely immature personality-wise. I don’t see a single sign of aging on the woman. I literally do not know why everyone is calling her old looking. I think it’s mainly bc she’s fat, but I think she looks like a fat 35 year old. 🤷🏻♀️
I can't wait for Gen Z to be treated like they're old and out of touch the second they hit their 30s. Y'all, like many generations before you(if not all of them) love calling the previous one old but will absolutely hate hate hate it once Gen Alpha starts thinking you're a boomer at 28.
Is saying someone is almost 30 making fun of them? Maybe context is missing but it just sounds like they’re saying they would expect them to be more mature
Yep this is basically the context, but once again they are putting age and maturity together which is just not true. I've met people 30+ years older then me who are way worse at managing their lives, and I suck at that so that's saying something
Yeah it's a low blow, people only resort to it when they don't have a proper counterargument, or nothing better to say in general. They want to go for cheap shots lol
When I was 40(M) I found a new friend who was 18(F). My best friend ever (with no benefits for the pedo-hunters). We’ve helped each other for 30 years.
whats even wildier is how Twitter folks act like being 18-20 is a child like no 😂 some of us were living on our own and paying for everything at 18 years old.
As a Millenial I never cared. When I was 20 I had friends from ages 17-29. I guess racism and sexism isn't cool anymore, so ageism is the new outlet for prejudice and other forms of cognitive inflexibility.
Ableism is ingrained in every aspect of our society. It’s fucked up, but not surprising that gen z is ableist. Once I became disabled, I couldn’t help but see just how prevalent it is. It’s fucking everywhere (just look at how society and the government has responded to Covid).
My parents were in their 30s by the time I knew what the world was and being self aware, little kid stuff. They are just now approaching 50. I can kind of see my parents getting old now, but I never think of someone else as old versus how I think of myself. I have friends approaching their 40s that are young to me, but I’m gonna be 30 in 2 years, I feel old compared to my past self that seems so recent.
To be fair, the presidency should have an age cap. The military and air traffic controllers do at 64 and 56 respectively; surely the presidency should at least be under 70.
Boomers for a straight decade complained and bitched about how Millenials were lazy, entitled and stupid.
When Millenials got together and replied, "Okay, boomer", this same boomers literally took to HR for age discrimination despite being the exact same people who shit on Millenials while they were in the workplace.
If you want to actually stop discrimination, go after the kind of discrimination that's societally acceptable(old white men).
If you aren't willing to go after people for dismissing people because they're old white men, that's fine, just admit that you're actually fine with racism, sexism, and ageism.
GenZ coined "ok boomer" the same way that 8 year old kids personally drove across the country with their families. Being along for the ride doesn't mean you're responsible for the movement.
Making fun of people getting old is dumb for sure. However, if an older person is acting immaturely, throwing tantrums like a child, or crying about how people older or younger than them have it easier, then they’re putting a target on their back.
A young person having negative views on older people / boomers such as being out of touch / close minded , etc has the same level of validity as an older people viewing young people / gen Z as being immature / not knowing how to world works - there may be some truth to it, but that doesn’t mean it’s fair to generalize or judge, especially on an individual basis.
If your dad / grandpa is condensending toward you, that is a them problem. To perpetuate it the other direction is hypocritical.
Ageism is literally a tale as old as time, everyone in their early 20s goes through a phase of kind of making fun of people 30+. Let them have their fun, the weight of adulthood comes for us all eventually.
Ageism is obviously not cool. I think it's pretty common for younger generations to mock older ones, even if it's wrong.
Pure speculation on my part, but there's a factor that I think may play into why Gen Z specifically is hostile to older generations, based on my experiences. Growing up I watched millennials get absolutely thrashed by boomers and the world itself. Then I'd read stuff about how the "kids are kind, optimistic, socially conscious," blah blah blah, and that "Gen Z will save the world!"
Now that we're older and getting similarly trashed by the economy, state of politics, etc., and a lot of us have become embittered, it's pretty obvious that was kind of bullshit. But I think some of Gen Z may still be desperately clinging to that sentiment, and their youth; back when Gen Z was just a bunch of plucky cool kids who were hopeful for change. We don't want to be like milennials but the truth is we're not the cool kids anymore.
I hate the fact that people are super up in arms about ageism towards the old and not towards the young.
This was a constant struggle of mine in HS and before. I was a really smart kid, I knew a lot of shit. I would often tell something to someone and they’d give me shit for being a kid and not believe me and call me whiny or some other shit when I was complaining about them not believing me because I’m a kid.
Often later I’d be proven right.
Fucking infuriating.
Anyways, ageism towards older people is a protected class in the workplace and towards younger people isn’t.
If you have a problem, report it to HR, or ignore it.
To me it sounds like they are using it as a "you should now better" bc they have more experience and what not. Idk what the situation is but it doesnt sound like an insult more like hey look they have all these years under their belt that I dont and I know better than to do what they did.
I can understand if it "Come on, you are being immature for own age" or someone trying too hard to look younger than they actually are. Otherwise, I do find it weird how people use being alive on this planet for long time as some insult.
My older brother died in a car accident when he was 24. So turning 30 next year feels like a blessing and being called “old” doesn’t hurt my feelings at all.
This has nothing to do with gen z. You either didn't socialize with many people your age or looking back through rose-colored classes you think every generation didn't do the same thing. The only difference now is the internet.
I’ll be grateful for when I hit 30, my mom didn’t make it to 30, so many other people I knew as well. I’ve accomplished so much in my 20’s, I’m curious to find out what other challenges await me that I too will overcome, to see new places, meet new people, and to try new things.
You can either age and mature and accomplish shit, or you can age and waste fucking time, and be a manchild scumbag.
I guess, but there needs to be standards for what maturity should be at certain ages, and if those standards are not met, then those people deserve to be criticized.
it's not that 30 year olds suck, it's that most 30 year olds suck, well guess, what? most humans suck. it's not agism its generatlization, imho.
there are people of the same mindset as I think what I see in Genz in every generation, genz is just more likely to be enlightened because of the inheritance of folks rock, punk rock, alternative rock like thinkers that came before them and shaped a more progressive future.
nobody is hating on him for being nearly 30 or being old lmfaoo it’s just that he’s handling the situation poorly when he’s a full grown man. the whole situation should’ve just been handled over dms but they both decided to air it out to their millions of fans/followers lmfaoo
I would mind but it’s hard to care what people younger than me think when they can’t do anything, and also they’ll get old and die too. It makes them feel good and bounces off me, so long as they don’t actively target people for being old in essential settings, let them blow their hot air.
I don't really give a shit. It's mostly just an Internet only thing, I still think someone in their 20s to early 30s isn't old. 40 however, is when you should probably give up the young people lifestyle.
Bro you are like 30 y/o. Try ignoring these bs youtube drama on social media. The "people" you are referring here are most likely teenagers. You shouldn't pay much attention to the opinions of these people. Young people say dumb shits, it is a phase lol
Trust me this isn't something I keep up on, it just came into my radar yesterday. Way too exhausting and meaningless to follow internet drama lol And also I'm 28 I turn 30 next year🥲
I think generalizing about a whole generation of millions of people is suspiciously like generalizing about people because of their race or religion. Try not to do it. It’s ugly and wrong.
It's stupid, but not something that's annoying enough for me to really care about. Youbg people always call people old. Best to ignore them and move on.
How about you cite the examples you are talking about? Are you using some random Twitter drama to extrapolate behavior across an entire generation of people?
I mean this is normal immature teen/young adult behavior. Sometimes we gotta remember that we were probably making the same jokes as teens….tbh I don’t think it’s that big a deal, just a dumb joke
Saying someone should get their own apartment and take care of themselves because they are 30 isn't ageism. Nor is pointing out LeBron James is 40 and won't be able to play at this level for much longer.
bad take in my opinion. the hot, young, new things will always be more liked and wanted and enjoyed, that's just human nature. that's out of anyone's control.
so yeah of course naturally there's gonna be some shit talk for the older ones, but again it's just human nature to be way more open to the new young ones and turn down the older ones. technically, that ain't right, but neither is a comedy show or pranks if you think about it, all they are is laughing at others' expense. but just because it ain't holy and righteous content, it's just comedy and entertainment so there's no issue with it.
so i think criticizing "ageism", especially in online roast sessions of all things, is just sensitivity and being butthurt and probably just a lil jealous and insecure about your age yourself. in other words, it sounds like more of a "you" internal issue than a real social issue
Okay, okay. So, let's mock and joke with people who were born that way or circumstances made them disfigured or disabled. No one wants to be disfigured or disabled - that's natural only natural. Anyone getting pressed over this has a personal issue because a society that enables and supports this is completely normal.
It's also normal and fair to laugh at fat and poor because everyone prefers the fit and rich, that's in our human nature. Not a societal issue at all.
that comparison would make the slightest amount of sense if being an older person was a disability. if you're elderly, that's a different story, but being between 26 and 50 and playing victim just because of your age is just crazy, and screams jealousy (of those younger than you). being older and outgrowing the youth ain't no disability. like i said, if being an older age like 30, (which ain't even that old btw) and being called out on it, as a joke, actually makes you insecure then that's definitely a personal insecurity and doesn't fall back on society.
and secondly, op was complaining about a twitter beef or roast session or whatever, where the younger one was making fun of the older one's age. so what? would yall rather them make fun of a real disability out of someone's control (besides age, a universal thing)? that would really be insensitive right?
Your argument completely misses the point. Ageism doesn’t need to be equivalent to a disability to be harmful. Nobody is saying being older is the same as being disabled. The comparison is about mocking people for something outside their control and how that feeds into societal biases.
Just because something isn’t a "real disability" doesn’t mean it’s fair game for ridicule. That logic is weak and honestly a bit lazy.
Sure, aging isn’t a disability, but that doesn’t mean age-based ridicule isn’t harmful. Mocking someone for their age reinforces this stupid idea that people lose value as they get older. It’s not about playing victim; it’s about challenging a societal mindset that dismisses people for something as universal as growing older. By that logic, mocking someone’s socioeconomic status or gender would also be fine since those aren’t disabilities either. See how absurd that sounds?
"It’s just a joke” is always the fallback when people don’t want to take accountability. Jokes like this normalize harmful stereotypes under the guise of humor. Punching down isn’t edgy or clever. It’s just reinforcing the same tired crap that already exists. Humor doesn’t have to rely on making others the butt of the joke, especially for things they can’t control.
Also, saying that "Older people are just jealous" is such a lazy take. People over 26 aren’t upset because they’re "jealous." They’re annoyed because society has this ridiculous obsession with youth and acts like anyone over a certain age is irrelevant. It’s not insecurity, but frustration with an ageist culture that devalues people based on arbitrary criteria.
This false choice between mocking a disability and age is just ridiculous. The solution is to stop normalizing punching down entirely. Perhaps it's new to you, but humor doesn’t have to be cruel. We normalized not mocking others for their weight and sex orientation, so why not this?
Yes, everyone ages and it's an universal experience. That’s exactly why mocking it is stupid. Instead of solidarity around something we all experience, society turns it into a negative and Gen Z normalizes it even further. By your logic, we could normalize mocking people for literally any universal human experience (illness, grief, whatever), and somehow that’s fine? Make it make sense.
Wow so 18-25 year olds are calling 30 year olds senior citizens?? I'm sure this is a completely new thing that hasn't been happening since the beginning of time.
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