Gen-X Parents "R" Us
Marketers say we're trying to redeem our lousy '70s childhoods.
by Susan Gregory Thomas
April 30, 2007
One such study shows that Gen-X mothers are repelled by the old "nag factor" that worked like such a charm with Boomer mothers. Indeed, to a Gen-X mother, the nag factor embodies the kind of dynamic from her own childhood she is striving to erase as a parent: division and manipulation born of neglect. Gen-X moms want to see themselves as consensus-builders. It means treating their children as people whose voices deserve to be heard, people worthy of respect and dignity. This means that Gen-X mothers will include children as young as two years old — and even younger — in decisions ranging from buying breakfast cereal to a car or home. Generation X's twin penchants for attachment parenting and shopping have also produced to the past decade's rise in popularity of mini-me fashions. To Generation X mothers, the cutesy, froufrou baby clothes of the past are not just tacky and foolish-looking; dressing their babies in traditional infant clothes somehow translated to a deeper sense of objectification, neglecting babies' personhood. The rise of GapBaby, H&M and mini Boden reflect this trend at the mass market level; DKNY Baby, Young Versace, Calypso Enfant and Coach in the luxury market.
But there is a deeper level to the symbiotic identification Generation X parents have with their young children: the desire to return to their own childhood, and fix it. Witness the aggressive return of Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Star Wars and associated action figures, Transformers, My Little Pony, and so on. Marketers call it "newstalgia," or "newtro," and the term is often invoked in discussions of marketing to Generation X. While previous generations' nostalgia is rooted in World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, or peace and love, Generation X knows now, as itGeneration X's idea of play is inextricably tied to TV, licensing and buying stuff "all sold separately." knew growing up, that the late 1970's and 1980's was a time of serious crap. But as parents, interestingly, they consume new-stalgia in a completely unironic way. Like parents before them since time in memoriam have done, Generation-X parents yearn to share with their children the playthings of their youth. It is just that Generation X's idea of play is inextricably tied to TV, licensing and buying stuff "all sold separately." This group's image of childhood is not rooted in activities or experiences; it is rooted in buying the brands of its youth. With the spring 2005 release of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, Toys "R" Us was stacking Star Wars merchandise from floor to ceiling, with special offerings from Playskool, Hasbro's toddler brand. There was, for example, the Star Wars Playskool Jedi Force Red Plush Lightsaber: a soft, cloth-like sword, perfect for two-year-old Rebels. And why not? We were so happy then — or so marketers would have us believe.
As for me, I finally took the quiz at AreYouASlackerMom.com. First, it turns out the quiz is a hook for gathering demographic data about mothers — a marketing site. Of course. Second, no matter how lame were the answers I plugged in, the quiz results never pronounced me a slacker mom. That's because, I realized, there are no Generation X moms who are slackers. They got us again.
©2007 Susan Gregory Thomas and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Susan Gregory Thomas is an investigative journalist, broadcaster and the author of Buy, Buy Baby: How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Minds. She has written for U.S. News & World Report, Time, the Washington Post and Glamour. She has two children, seven and five years old. |
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