Would LMAO if it wasn't so SAD

[Neo-Scholastic]

I thought the article was interesting, worth sharing, and discussing. I am not advocating for any particular interpretation, mostly because the article lacks the depth required to draw any real conclusions about millenials and/or generational stereotypes. I see it mostly as a springboard to talk about the effects on individual self-esteem by being exposed to either prejudicial generalizations or positive stereotypes. When presented with a stereotype, when do people take it personally and when (and how) do they ignore them. Can someone acknowledge that something is true, in a statistical way but not universally applicable? Moreover, the article suggests broader questions about the interplay between language and culture. I kept the OP short just to see what direction the conversation would go.

As for the title of the thread, “LMAO” is indeed about taking generational stereotypes too seriously. Every generation suffers from both negative and positive stereotypes. The idea that this is anything new is laughable. I feel the same about an academic study that sees millenials as uniquely victimized in a way that GenX (slackers) and Baby Boomers (nacissists) were not. Before there were snowflakes, there were preppies, yuppies, etc.

At the same time I find it very sad that we live in a culture where victim status is a badge of honor that confers legitimacy (sometimes with but often without justification) while feeling like a victim (rightly or wrongly) diminishes one’s sense of self-worth. To me this is analogous to when the idea of dysfunctional families was popular in the 90’s. All of a sudden everyone claimed to have been raised in a dysfunctional family, even when the bad experiences of their childhoods were relatively mild.