What is a Boomer? (55, depression, states, years)

[AguaDulce]

My mother was born in the fifth month of '45.

I was born in the first month of '65.

So, my mother and I are both "boomers"? This makes no sense at all.

Conclusion: These categories are only partially helpful. Please keep this in mind when you use the word boomer.

[Pitt Chick]

Wikipedia says:
The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers


So, she is of the silent generation and you are GenX.

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

Wikipedia says: The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers

So, she is of the silent generation and you are GenX.

Except, since we're both on the cusp, we both always get thrown in with boomers.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by AguaDulce

Except, since we're both on the cusp, we both always get thrown in with boomers.

True, but that happens at every generational change. It's really not that meaningful. For example, by the "rules" my oldest daughter is Gen X, but the younger daughter and son are both millennials. I would throw them all into the Millennial group, since it's 2 out of 3, but I don't really care as long as they are all doing well. I wonder what they will call the generation of my 3 grandkids, now ages 4 months to 11 years.

[ohio_peasant]

Actual calendar-dates matter little, as basis for prejudices or convenient heuristics. I was born during the Nixon administration (no need to specify further), making me solidly Gen-X... but get "OK, Boomered" with some frequency. Meanwhile the leading figures in American national politics were born during WW2, making them Silents, but also tend to get lumped with the Boomers. "Boomer" thus has come to mean, "any generically older person, old enough to have spent most of his or her life in the 20th century (writing in 2023), but still "young enough" to be out-and-about in public life."

[Thoreau424]

A better approach is to drop / abandon all the dumb labels. They're just cheap shortcuts to coming to conclusions; knee-jerk words to quickly populate the head with pre-conceived notions and images. And usually people get it wrong. The generalizations are too diluted to accurately match or describe any one specific individual.

But we live in the land and time of labels. See how people constantly throw them around and rely on them. And yet they're mainly used to discredit and antagonize others, like lazy word bombs. The one group against another childishness.

[bpollen]

Originally Posted by AguaDulce

My mother was born in the fifth month of '45.

I was born in the first month of '65.

So, my mother and I are both "boomers"? This makes no sense at all.

Conclusion: These categories are only partially helpful. Please keep this in mind when you use the word boomer.

mid 1960s-late '70s: Generation X
mid 1946-mid 1964: Baby Boom Generation
1928-1945: The Silent Generation (aka Traditionalist Generation)
1901-1927: The Greatest Generation

Wikipedia defines the Baby Boom Generation as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom, and following the Silent Generation. The United States Census Bureau defines baby boomers as "individuals born in the United States between mid-1946 and mid-1964.

The Silent Generation, also known as the Traditionalist Generation, is the Western demographic cohort following the Greatest Generation and preceding the baby boomers. The generation is generally defined as people born from 1928 to 1945. This generation was small, compared to some others, because the Great Depression and WWII caused fewer babies to be born. The Great Depression was 1929-1939. WWII was 1939-1945.

The Greatest Generation, also known as the G.I. Generation and the World War II generation, is the Western demographic cohort following the Lost Generation and preceding the Silent Generation. The generation is generally defined as people born from 1901 to 1927.


I'd say your mother is at the tail end of the Silent Generation, a year before the baby boom starts to hit hard after WWII. You are Generation X. But both of you are close to the Boomer Generation.

[Sand&Salt]

Originally Posted by Thoreau424

A better approach is to drop / abandon all the dumb labels. They're just cheap shortcuts to coming to conclusions; knee-jerk words to quickly populate the head with pre-conceived notions and images. And usually people get it wrong. The generalizations are too deluded to accurately match or describe any one specific individual.

But we live in the land and time of labels. See how people foolishly and irresponsibly throw them around. And they're mainly used to discredit and antagonize. The one group against another childishness.

Yes, we're all "deluded", lol. Or did you mean "diluted"?

[AnnaLee2]

Originally Posted by AguaDulce

My mother was born in the fifth month of '45.

I was born in the first month of '65.

So, my mother and I are both "boomers"? This makes no sense at all.

Conclusion: These categories are only partially helpful. Please keep this in mind when you use the word boomer.

And, like all boomers, you look, think and act identically.

[pekemom]

Apparently there are older boomers and younger boomers…born in the late 1940’s I am one of the older ones….by 1964 I was in high school.