essay
"Getting dressed in the morning is a fundamentally different experience today than it was forty years ago. For all of Generation Me's lifetime, clothes have been a medium of self-expression, an individual choice in a range of alternatives and comfort. Contrast this to past decades, when men wore ties most of the time and women did not leave the house without crisp white gloves and a tight girdle... The trend toward more informal dress has accelerated in the past ten years, with may companies opting for "business casual" and others going for just plain casual... This is a perfect illustration of generational trends in attitudes, as the entire point in dressing up is to make a good impression on others and elicit their approval. You don't dress formally for yourself or for your comfort; if you really wanted to do things "your way" and just for yourself, you'd wear jeans to work." (p.17-19)
This is the social trend - so strong it's really a revolution - that ties all of the generational changes together in a neat, tight bundle: so what makes you happy, and don't worry about what other people think. It is enormously different from the cultural ethos of previous decades, and it is a philosophy that GenMe takes entirely for granted." (p.20)
"Not caring what others think may also explain the decline in manners and politeness. Because we no longer believe that there is one right way of doing things, most of us were never taught the rules of etiquette... most etiquette was developed to provide something often lacking in modern society: respect for other people's comfort." (p.26)
"Boomers laid claim to the phrase "question authority" during the 1960s. But GenMe doesn't just question authority - we disrespect it entirely... This is the eventual outcome of increased informality and the loosening of social rules, and many people would rightly argue that questioning things is good. Sometimes "traditions" are outmoded and need challenging. But sometimes GenMe takes the
This is the social trend - so strong it's really a revolution - that ties all of the generational changes together in a neat, tight bundle: so what makes you happy, and don't worry about what other people think. It is enormously different from the cultural ethos of previous decades, and it is a philosophy that GenMe takes entirely for granted." (p.20)
"Not caring what others think may also explain the decline in manners and politeness. Because we no longer believe that there is one right way of doing things, most of us were never taught the rules of etiquette... most etiquette was developed to provide something often lacking in modern society: respect for other people's comfort." (p.26)
"Boomers laid claim to the phrase "question authority" during the 1960s. But GenMe doesn't just question authority - we disrespect it entirely... This is the eventual outcome of increased informality and the loosening of social rules, and many people would rightly argue that questioning things is good. Sometimes "traditions" are outmoded and need challenging. But sometimes GenMe takes the