Loading...
Start Date
24-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
24-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
Side parts, skinny jeans, and flared leggings. These are but three playful, yet heated TikTok debates that have divided Gen Z (approximately 1996-2012) and Millennials (approximately 1981-1995) At first glance, these “generational wars” appear to be merely the latest iteration of an emerging generational cohort demarcating their taste cultures, subjectivities, and preferences within capitalist logics of consumerism (Vittadini, Siibak, and Reifova, 2013). For teens in particular, signification of and identification with one’s peer group is integral to generational identity formation. However, while Millennials may have come-of-age with the internet, Gen Z is unique in that they are the first generation to co-construct their generational identity formation in such a public, collective, visible, and vocal manner at such a young age through apps such as TikTok, Discord, and Twitch.
Through an analysis of TikTok memes, challenges, and trends, I argue that framing these debates as merely “generational conflicts” masks two issues: 1) Gen Z’s attempt to resist colonization of their digital spaces and 2) an erasure of the gendered and racialized discourses within generational divides. Social media and Millennials have grown up together and many Millennials feel as though these spaces “belong” to them (Herring, 2008). With the rise of TikTok practices and the cultures they are creating, Millennials are for the first time experiencing a digital space as Others. Thus, the generational divide is not only about popular culture, but also a battle of belonging and space that both upholds and subverts capitalist constructions of a generation (Valentine, 2018). Second, the majority of generational wars are leveraged by girls and young women against (white) women in ways that police bodies, fashion, and feminized pleasures. While playful in nature, I argue that the debates function as a way for Gen Z to solidify what they perceive as their more progressive values (Zeng and Abidin, 2021) and at the same time reinscribe internalized sexism and the further trivialization of feminized popular culture (Levine, 2015).
References:
Herring, S. C. (2008). Questioning the generational divide: Technological exoticism and adult constructions of online youth identity. MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Initiative.
Levine, E. (Ed.). (2015). Cupcakes, Pinterest, and Ladyporn: Feminized popular culture in the early twenty-first century. University of Illinois Press.
Valentine, G. (2019). Geographies of youth–a generational perspective. Children's Geographies, 17(1), 28-31.
Vittadini, N., Siibak, A., & Reifová, I. (2013). Generations and media: The social construction of generational identity and differences. In Audience Transformations (pp. 73-89). Routledge.
Zeng, J., & Abidin, C. (2021). ‘# OkBoomer, time to meet the Zoomers’: studying the memefication of intergenerational politics on TikTok. Information, Communication & Society, 1-23.
Cheugy Millennials vs. Gen Z Drip Checks: Unpacking TikTok’s Generational Wars
Side parts, skinny jeans, and flared leggings. These are but three playful, yet heated TikTok debates that have divided Gen Z (approximately 1996-2012) and Millennials (approximately 1981-1995) At first glance, these “generational wars” appear to be merely the latest iteration of an emerging generational cohort demarcating their taste cultures, subjectivities, and preferences within capitalist logics of consumerism (Vittadini, Siibak, and Reifova, 2013). For teens in particular, signification of and identification with one’s peer group is integral to generational identity formation. However, while Millennials may have come-of-age with the internet, Gen Z is unique in that they are the first generation to co-construct their generational identity formation in such a public, collective, visible, and vocal manner at such a young age through apps such as TikTok, Discord, and Twitch.
Through an analysis of TikTok memes, challenges, and trends, I argue that framing these debates as merely “generational conflicts” masks two issues: 1) Gen Z’s attempt to resist colonization of their digital spaces and 2) an erasure of the gendered and racialized discourses within generational divides. Social media and Millennials have grown up together and many Millennials feel as though these spaces “belong” to them (Herring, 2008). With the rise of TikTok practices and the cultures they are creating, Millennials are for the first time experiencing a digital space as Others. Thus, the generational divide is not only about popular culture, but also a battle of belonging and space that both upholds and subverts capitalist constructions of a generation (Valentine, 2018). Second, the majority of generational wars are leveraged by girls and young women against (white) women in ways that police bodies, fashion, and feminized pleasures. While playful in nature, I argue that the debates function as a way for Gen Z to solidify what they perceive as their more progressive values (Zeng and Abidin, 2021) and at the same time reinscribe internalized sexism and the further trivialization of feminized popular culture (Levine, 2015).
References:
Herring, S. C. (2008). Questioning the generational divide: Technological exoticism and adult constructions of online youth identity. MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Initiative.
Levine, E. (Ed.). (2015). Cupcakes, Pinterest, and Ladyporn: Feminized popular culture in the early twenty-first century. University of Illinois Press.
Valentine, G. (2019). Geographies of youth–a generational perspective. Children's Geographies, 17(1), 28-31.
Vittadini, N., Siibak, A., & Reifová, I. (2013). Generations and media: The social construction of generational identity and differences. In Audience Transformations (pp. 73-89). Routledge.
Zeng, J., & Abidin, C. (2021). ‘# OkBoomer, time to meet the Zoomers’: studying the memefication of intergenerational politics on TikTok. Information, Communication & Society, 1-23.
Bio
Bio: Dr. Jacqueline Ryan Vickery is Associate Professor of Media Arts at the University of North Texas and Director of Research for the Youth Media Lab at UNT. Drawing from qualitative, feminist, and ethnographic methods, she researches the media practices and representations of marginalized youth, with a particular focus on informal learning, equity, and media literacy. Her current work is an ethnographic project about Gen Z, generational discourses, and activism.
https://www.jrvickery.com/
https://mediaarts.unt.edu/content/jacqueline-vickery