Generation Alpha Magic
(birth years ~2010-2024)
As a parent of two Gen Alpha individuals, I hear the word ‘cringe’ a fair amount, like when I use old man sayings such as ‘let’s get down to brass tacks,’ or bring up a topic that strikes them as particularly earnest, nerdy, or ‘boomer-ish.’
And I respond like sweet pea, I’ve been cringe since always, it has nothing to do with age or generation!
Also, the word boomer does not apply to anyone you think is old!
Alphas’ ignorance about things that apparently require life experience (like the definition of a baby boomer) may be the one point that will allow the olds to remain in charge for a minute or two, because I’m pretty sure they’re coming for us with their incredible collective generational handle on technology, communication, and access to information at an early age that is heretofore unprecedented. We’re thinking they aren’t as smart as we were because they don’t read as many books and they play too many video games and are obsessed with screens and image and consumption of content and self-documentation to a degree sometimes bordering on aggravated self-dispersal… protect your privacy, we might think, get your head out of the internet. Have some dignity. It’s better IRL.
Gen Z is at work on this –
But what if there’s more to it than some outdated idea of what wisdom is, stuff our dinosaur brains can only begin to integrate (ru ready for your update??), such as the way this habitual practice of peering into the windows (cameras) of other lives, even if they are hyper-curated, is a bit like old proverbs –
the eyes are the windows to the soul,
and
if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
I’m talking (broadly) about exposure & digital immersion & a burgeoning global society in which one can live in a comfortable suburb in the United States yet have so much access to potent information about how others live, and not just headlines and whatever the media or publishing institutions are peddling, but actual sensory details and real-time first-person narratives. There’s something going on, developing in the younger generations (Gen Z, Gen Alpha ) around empathy and mutual aid and collective care that is the flipside of the Adolescence/ toxic masculinity coin. At least I want to believe it is so, and there is plenty of evidence (content) to prove it.
It’s scary, all the content. But — I for one am super grateful for the emerging Alpha magic I’ve been observing in my teen & tween and their friends around personal authenticity, identity fluidity, open demonstrations of affection between friends regardless of gender, and rejection of a conventional, conditioned approach – why not question everything? They know better than anyone there’s so much out there. Why not strive to become a highly paid elevator operator or electrician with union benefits instead of a four-year college grad with obscene student loans and little hope of ever paying them off, or…beauty school? Llama farmer/ influencer? As someone who graduated from college in the winter of 2006, by the time I got around to looking beyond supporting my arts career with restaurant work, the 2008 financial crisis had already hit the fan. That was really a big wtf moment for me, one I’m still grappling with on many levels (main one = student loans), as are many from my Xennial micro-generation.
And here come the Alphas like, let’s have a different filter for any given situation, let’s be adaptable evolutionary beings. I love that. I always thought that if I didn’t totally identify/ vibe with the ‘ideal’ filter of my generation – some blend of Gen X hipster cool girl & millennial cottagecore aesthetic – that I couldn’t have a voice, like, participate in my generation in a meaningful way because I was too much on the fringe. And that may have been painfully true at the time. But fringe is gaining favor along with growing mainstream awareness around neurodivergence, queerness, body positivity, intersectionality, and (duh) the fact that not everyone is or should be an extrovert. I don’t think the Alphas would buy the type of self-defeatist excuses that I used for so long to justify staying quiet. That seems like progress.
I have always been obsessed with things that are unfashionable (including the word unfashionable), including sometimes my style of pants and shoes, and my chaotic approach to home decorating and body art and storage – and maybe being cringe and dignified have never been mutually exclusive, and that was just a youthful projection on my part. Also, it seems like many things that were uncool when I felt pressure to be cool are now cool, so that’s cool. (The word ‘cool’!) My alt/ frump 90s dress-sense is landing these days in such a way that in the past month, several young Z-ish men have complimented my style in the street (wait, what?) in a very genuine non weird way. Like, look at you with your gray hair & glasses & Mom vibes, living your best life…
As a product of whatever made me – nature & nurture & wherever the stars were at the moment of my birth – I’m aware of long having been overly concerned with preserving my dignity and public reputation as a serious, smart, (wittiness optional), doesn’t give too much of a shit person. This is the version of feminism my generation took on, and a common default setting for Gen X female-identifying people. But over the last several years I’ve been entering into a conversation with that part of me, and there is certainly a larger dialogue playing out in society now (name your favorites in the comments, please) that involves some unraveling of what constitutes dignity on an individual basis, and intelligence, and authenticity, and success – and does maintaining a conditioned ideal of these values preclude enjoying my life? And if so, is it time to either let them go, or redefine them? This I am learning & navigating as an adult, but the Alphas are infused with it.
Every generation goes through a process of not only changing priorities and focuses, but of redefining values and thus assigning new meaning to familiar words like dignity, authenticity, success. This moment in time feels like a sort of eras-related turning point, and I’m pondering questions such as, How are these words put into practice in my life? And, am I living an unconscious, conditioned, ideologically driven life? Or an experiential one? As they used to say on Twitter, normalize… (insert awkward but relatable thing here). The olds were all over it, but that is so Alpha.
The language of Alphas is dynamic, literally electrified. They are hilarious and lightning quick witted, their brains trained in the art of memes & shorts – wordplay and images, high-efficiency cinematography and condensed, high concept narrative. They communicate in pithy sound bites and project their own aspirational images of themselves and their constantly expanding vision into the world at large with the ease boomers used to read maps, drive stick shift, write in cursive, and use a card catalogue. The way X’s did punk rock, mix tapes, latchkey kid lifestyle, and DIY. How Millennials took on traveling, health supplements, the first internet social platforms, texting, and work-life balance. Z was like – big comfy pants and skin care, please. And would you like a mocktail with that? Aren’t we all so amazing and weird!
Instead of worrying about how the kids are ‘not like us,’ and wondering if they’re alright, I’m starting to get excited about what’s in the making – ultimately the world wants to heal itself, right? It will be a ride, mouthy & annoying for sure, but times like these we need to get a handle on the generational magic, whatever it looks like/ sounds like/ upsets. I’m just over here providing emotional support… as best I can.
