“Honestly, Gen Y, can’t you be more like your mother?” “Why can’t you sew on a button?”, “What do you mean you’re changing jobs again?” Hmmm. Sound like something you’ve heard before? If you’re yet to hit your thirties, chances are you’ve heard this a lot.
I’m certainly proud to be a Gen Yer. However it’s impossible not to notice how often the finger is pointed at us, branding us as an instant-gratification generation, or individuals who are losing their practical skills, take commitment lightly and are obsessed with the latest technology.
I had firsthand experience of this criticism after I agreed to appear in a newspaper article about the choices of modern young women. I felt happy to contribute to a positive piece about how I chose to prioritise my time. For example, I don’t spend lots of time cooking, even though I can – because I’d rather focus on my career, friends, charity work and a gym class or two. But when the article came out, it focused on the domestic ‘shortcomings’ of Gen Y and reported that eating out was replacing cooking at home. The point I was trying to convey was that Gen Y women have greater freedom of choice now and surely that was worth celebrating. But I was portrayed as a kitchen- hating, oven-illiterate 20-something Gen Y girl.
The article opened a Pandora’s Box of debate as comments flooded in from women who wanted to share how they managed to work, have children and still put a meal on the table. Then there were comments from Gen X women who felt Gen Y were unappreciative of the efforts of former generations to provide us with the opportunity to choose where we spent our destiny, in a kitchen or behind a desk.
Perhaps what it comes down to is that Y Gen have greater freedom for choice. The launching platform for Gen Y has been established by the efforts of generations before. We simply step up and launch off. We have freedom so that we can just make the choices that suit us.
There are two ways to look at the criticisms leveled at us. To those who see Gen Y as commitment-shy – maybe it just makes sense to keep our options open. While our parents may have had the expectation of finding and keeping one job for life, we’ve seen for ourselves that businesses don’t work that way any more. So shouldn’t we try out a number of career options – and develop other facets of our lives – so we’re not only defined by our jobs?
And to those who think we’re losing domestic skills – how come no one ever mentions the skills we’re gaining? It’s my 20-something friends who can build their own blogs or multi-task across their iPad, smartphone and interactive digital TV all at once. And with the cost of supermarket food these days, is it little wonder that, with our more-limited 20-something budgets, we’re often better off financially if we eat out rather than make everything from scratch?
My grandmother left school at 13 to work so her older brothers could continue their education. She went back at age 37 to complete her studies, gaining a Masters in Education, and becoming a Uni lecturer. Growing up, she’d remind of the opportunities ahead of me. Though she was a wonderful cook, I don’t remember spending time with her learning how to beat egg whites. Instead she would sit and encourage me to dream about my future. Now I’m returning to Uni to do my own Masters whilst maintaining my full time job, a choice enabled by the generations of women before me.
We definitely need to thank the women who have paved the way for us Gen Y girls to have freedom of choice. Baby boomers and Gen X pushed the boundaries for us to live our dreams. We are individuals but we are also a product of our culture with social networking, technology at our finger tips, more acceptance for eating out and more probability that we will change our job if we feel dissatisfied or our skills aren’t being used. We’re a generation who are confident to take on a challenge and where we see less gender lines as men and women now share a more equal status in society. My hope is that those who have gone before us applaud Gen Y’s efforts to continue to work towards the goals of gender equality and women’s empowerment, whilst proudly being their own women.
Bethany Noble 