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How do you view generations - culturally, not biologically


Lady Florida.
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My very unimportant question of the day -

 

Ds and dss are 20 years apart, but since they're brothers, would you say they are in the same generation? Please note my title. I'm not looking for a scientific distinction. Culturally they are worlds apart, but since they share a father, are they still the same generation?

 

This came up at Thanksgiving, and none of us really had an answer. We all saw both sides.

 

What does the hive think?

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Culturally, no. Sounds like your SS is in Gen X, while your son is... whatever teenagers are these days. Are they Millenials? Or has a new grouping come along?

 

Biologically yes they have the same father. And, most genealogists would classify them the same generation because of that. But as to general culture, like you said, they're worlds apart.

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My sister and I are only 10 years apart, but we are worlds apart generation wise. The 80's were very different from the 90's, so much changed. We have a few things that cross over, but most are different. My parents were different too. It was like they were different people. My dad had a management job when my sister was born, when I was young he was union. My mom took a part time job when my sister started school, which changed how she viewed things. I had a lot of cousins growing up, by the time my sister was born some of those parts of the family drifted away. Everything was different. I believe 20 years is considered a whole generation. I would imagine that even you, as the parents are different (meaning you and your dh are older, more experienced and will most likely do and respond to things in a different way).

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Culturally, no. Sounds like your SS is in Gen X, while your son is... whatever teenagers are these days. Are they Millenials? Or has a new grouping come along?

 

 

That's what we thought. Dss and ddil are GenX. I just looked up Millennials and that's where ds fits. We knew that biologically/genealogically they're the same but dss at 34, is more than old enough to be ds' father.

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I think it depends on why you're talking about generations. My uncle's family is like that. He has a set of kids who are adults and a set of kids a little older than my kids. Technically, they are all MY cousins, and I do sometimes refer to them that way, but often I talk about the younger ones as my kids' cousins and the older ones as my cousins because when we are together and people break into groups, you have the kids, grown ups, and the old ones.

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Culturally, no. Sounds like your SS is in Gen X, while your son is... whatever teenagers are these days. Are they Millenials? Or has a new grouping come along?

 

Biologically yes they have the same father. And, most genealogists would classify them the same generation because of that. But as to general culture, like you said, they're worlds apart.

 

I agree with the Gen X & Millennial tags.

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I think it depends on why you're talking about generations.

 

We were taking photos of the guys. Someone said, there's 4 generations (dh, dss, ds, and dgs). Someone else said, no it was 3, because of ds and dss. I suppose in that case - family history and photos, they are the same. Still it seems weird to lump them into the same generation.

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Generation wise they would be the same, so I see the point from the photo angle. Culturally no. Dh and I are only 6 years apart, but culturally we are different. he grew up in the 70s, I grew up in the 80s. He always seemed much older. :lol:

 

Dh has a cousin that is the same ages as his nieces and nephews. I sometimes forget she is a cousin and not a niece because of her age.

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We were taking photos of the guys. Someone said, there's 4 generations (dh, dss, ds, and dgs). Someone else said, no it was 3, because of ds and dss. I suppose in that case - family history and photos, they are the same. Still it seems weird to lump them into the same generation.

 

In that case, no, I'd call that three generations.

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We were taking photos of the guys. Someone said, there's 4 generations (dh, dss, ds, and dgs). Someone else said, no it was 3, because of ds and dss. I suppose in that case - family history and photos, they are the same. Still it seems weird to lump them into the same generation.

 

 

For that use of the word "generation", they do belong to the same generation. When people talk about the number of generations together at an event, they mean generations within the family.

 

But for cultural purposes, the ds and the dss belong to different generations, as others have said.

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For that use of the word "generation", they do belong to the same generation. When people talk about the number of generations together at an event, they mean generations within the family.

 

But for cultural purposes, the ds and the dss belong to different generations, as others have said.

 

 

That's what I thought. I wasn't going to push it though. It wasn't important or worth "being right" on Thanksgiving. :D

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The photo aspect has already been covered.

 

For the social definitions of recent generations, I think it's tough to figure out. I'm pretty sure it used to be about 20 years to a generation, but that seems to be shrinking. For example, my husband and I are almost 10 years apart in age, but we are both squarely in different generations. My brother is 6 years younger than me, and he's in a different generation also. Our experiences growing up were all vastly different, well beyond the differences in the way our parents raised us. My parents are right on the line between generations, and they could be grouped in the same generation as my husband. My in-laws are older than my parents, and I mentally group them with my grandparents because they have more shared experiences with them than with my parents.

 

I think the whole thing is fascinating.

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With regards to family photo, I would be in the same generation as my cousins who are 20 years older. So your son and step-son would be in the same generations.

 

Culturally for the fun of it, my friends would break it up as "black and white TV", "color tv", walkman, compact disc, mp3 player, facebook generation.

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