Good question and one that Mlchelle Slatalla in today’s New York Times tries to answer.
SPEAKING as someone born the same year as Barack Obama, I was very happy after Election Day to hear various political analysts
and TV commentators describe him as our nation’s first Generation X
president.This could be a critically
important development for all of us born in 1961. It could be the
loophole we’ve been waiting for, the one that gets us out of the baby
boomer generation and gives us another shot at being young.“It’s so great to be a member of Generation X,” I said to my husband
last week on my 47th birthday. He’s 51, a member in good standing of
the baby boom generation.“What are you talking about?” he asked.
I guess this is sort of cute for the fluff that it is, but it’s too important a topic to apparently not have done any research. Helloooo? How do you write a piece about Obama’s generational identity and not even mention Generation Jones?! In case you had done even a few minutes of research, fluffy NYTimes fashion writer, you would have discovered that despite the claim in your opening sentence, almost no national commentators have referred to Obama as a GenXer.
The fact is that many commentators have said that Obama is post-Boomer, and more specifically part of Generation Jones, born 1954-1965, between the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Google this, and you’ll find that many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) are using that term now, and specifically referring to Obama as part of Generation Jones.
I guess this is sort of cute for the fluff that it is, but it’s too important a topic to apparently not have done any research. Helloooo? How do you write a piece abour Obama’s generational identity and not even mention Generation Jones?! In case you had done even a few minutes of research, fluffy NYTimes fashion writer, you would have discovered that despite the claim in your opening sentence, almost no national commentators have referred to Obama as a GenXer.
The fact is that many commentators have said that Obama is post-Boomer, and more specifically part of Generation Jones, born 1954-1965, between the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Google this and you’ll see it’s a pretty long list of commentators who have already stated this position, including writers from your own newspaper, like David Brooks. Among others who have publicly referred to Obama as part of Generation Jones are: Karen Tumulty (Time Magazine), Roland Martin (CNN), Michael Steele (Chairman, GOPAC), Chris Van Hollen (Chairman, DCCC), Stuart Rothenberg (Roll Call), Clarence Page (Chicago Tribune), Juan Williams (Fox News Channel), Howard Wolfson (Political Advisor), Mel Martinez (U.S. Senator [R-Florida]), Carl Leubsdorf (Dallas Morning News), Jonathan Alter (Newsweek), and Peter Fenn (MSNBC).