Sunday, October 12, 2008

..and a Twixter is WHAT exactly?

Apparently I'm a little slow on the uptake, because I just recently learned of the Twixter Phenomenon that was officially introduced by Time magazine in 2005. The ironic part: I'm a "twixter" through and through, and I'm glad to realize I'm not alone.

Time published an article examining 18-25 year old people who experience an extra developmental phase in their lives between adolescence and adulthood. Historically, humans have developed from babies to children to adolescents to adults. Recently, there seems to have been a cultural change that created an interim, or sort of pause, that delays the onset of archetypal "adult" characteristics (getting married, having children, buying a home). 30 years ago, the average woman was married by 21 and had her first child at 22; now the average woman gets married and has a child at the age of 25. The statistics and evident shift in lifestyle are so flagrant that social scientists, psychologists, and other experts have conducted exhaustive research and discovered a newly-evolving demographic group; referred to as "kidults," "boomerang kids," "thresholders," and "emerging adults" - going through the "youthhood" or "adultescence." Essentially, more and more 20-somethings are taking longer than 4 years to graduate from college, and post-graduation they start to flail a little bit - often hopping from job to job, avoiding committed relationships, acting like they did as teenagers, or moving back home with their parents... All as a way to avoid impending doom, a.k.a. responsibility. They seem to constantly be between and betwixt (and since tweener has recently been assigned to the pre-teen, Hannah Montana-loving crowd, we got twixter by default. I guess at least it doesn't rhyme with weiner I suppose. That's a plus). I think this betwixt phase is easier for people to grasp if they think of it as a quarter-life crisis.

More and more 20-somethings started going through an evidently difficult phase in life, and it started to scare the crap out of older generations. Sociological, psychological, and demographic research was undoubtedly the mandatory action - those Baby Boomers really needed to know what the hell was wrong with people who didn't want to marry at 21, didn't want children at 22 (if ever), didn't find a job right after graduation, or took longer than 4 years to graduate. The result: a better understanding of why our generation acts the way it does, more sympathy towards us, and the piéce de rèsistance: an official label (we have Time to thank for that).

So.. What are the reasons for the twixter phenomenon? Simply put, life is getting harder and it's taking us longer to become adults - on various levels.

COLLEGE.
Back when our parents were our age, a college degree was like a Golden Ticket to a career. Since the 1970s, there has been a 53% increase in people who attend college - making college degrees worth less and less in the job market. Personally, I have a bachelor's degree in psychology that has done absolutely nothing for me since graduation - it's one of those degrees you know is useless but you stick with it anyway for whatever reason (my reason was that changing majors would extend my graduation date, which my parents were not cool with). That leads me to the next characteristic of college that has changed over the years: the average amount of time it takes to graduate. Obviously, it has gone up - the new average college student takes five years to graduate, not four. I know this stresses parents out - mine were SO adamant that I graduate in 4 years. It wasn't an argument, I really had no options (all I can say about that is "oops"). I totally wish I didn't feel so pressured to finish in a certain amount of time, because I feel like I missed out on the chance to make the most of my college experience. My final GPA is just horribly embarrassing and so much less than what I'm capable of - I was in such a hurry to graduate that I really didn't care about my grades. Also, I grew less and less interested in my major after my sophomore year and eventually found it really tedious and boring and pointless to study because I had no intention of going to graduate school for psychology - and there's no way I can be enthusiastic about going to class if I really don't care what I'm learning. Now I'm paying the price, as I'm learning via the law school application process. As for the useless degree? I'm unemployed - in case you need proof.

Also an issue with college graduates: the debt acquired while in college is taking much longer to pay off, which delays the financial stability indicative of "adulthood." Crap gets more expensive as time goes on. Plus, students depend on loans more often than grants, which used to be the other way around when college wasn't as expensive.

EXPECTATIONS. The way I'm gonna describe this is a gross over-generalization, but it's really the easiest way for me to do it so deal with it. Twixters grew up in the 1990s and witnessed - pretty much daily - the impact of the internet and how easy it was for people to strike it rich almost overnight (improved communication makes it easier to start a small business, buying stock became easier, people started selling their junk on eBay for some serious coin, etc.). In a time of instant gratification (and in a society that drools over it), we're kind of conditioned to expect immediate results; unfortunately, life doesn't really work that way, and it causes a lot of anxiety when we don't get an instant fix all the time. Something I've personally noticed the most among my circle of friends is the desire to live the same lifestyle that our parents do, at half their age. Again, that instant gratification expectation kicks in and we just want to live like that now. Another lovely way to crash, burn, and have a quarter-life crisis.

Our generation has really been fed the idea that "one can accomplish whatever they set their mind to," and that our options are limitless. We're told to do something that we LOVE for a living, and that work should be enjoyable. So if we find ourselves working a job that we hate, we'll quit because we really want to find our career - we're idealists at the core, and we're holding off for that perfect job. For that perfect mate. For that perfect opportunity.

We were also raised with the expectation that our college degrees would be worth something. It's kind of a cruel smack in the face when you finally graduate and nothing changes. I mean seriously... Society kinda deals us a crap hand.

SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR. In recent years, the idea of getting married and starting a family later in life has become more widely accepted and practiced. People are becoming more and more independent and self-relient, and popular culture often portray being single as a glamorous, fun, desireable way to spend your 20s, 30s, 40s - or eternity (Sex and the City, anyone?). Some people have absolutely no desire to start a family. Some people want to have as much fun as they can before they tie themselves down, so they live it up until then. Whatever the reason, it's not frowned upon anymore when people make the decision to stay unattached. The idea of dating a variety of people has started to progress from a promiscuous, slutty, dangerous generalization into a something more understood, accepted, and attributed to the desire to find a soul mate - not just a spouse. Perfection takes time to find...



Most of the experts conclude that twixters are melting down, moving home, and putting off responsibility by no fault of our own; growing up is simply harder than it used to be, thanks to how we are groomed by society. Some say we are way more concerned than previous generations when it comes to making a successful, meaningful, enjoyable transition into adulthood, so we'll put it off until conditions are right. Idealism and self-actualization are really important to a lot of twixters because our society (which has become increasingly liberal over time - another thing that scares some older people) has told us it should be. For the most part, the experts say that this period of self-discovery is a positive thing that should be used to experience as much as we can, to learn and grow as people, and that it should be used to our advantage. Nonetheless, twixters are perceived as lazy, indecisive, confused, and even frightening to some people. Experts say that's just a misunderstanding. They also say twixters are officially here to stay; the phenomenon is predicted to be permanent. It's global too; though they're known in other countries by other names:
  • Boomerang Kids - Canada
  • Kippers (acronym that stands for Kids In Parents Pocketbooks Eroding Retirement Savings) - England
  • Tanguy Syndrome (named after the movie Tanguy, about a man living with his parents) - France
  • Nesthocker (translation: Nest Squatter) - Germany
  • Mammone (word for a young man who loves mama's cooking) - Italy
  • Freeter (combo of words meaning "free" and "worker") - Japan (the trend has even been debated in Japanese congress)
Although I'm not exactly thrilled by the idea that the label given to my generation sounds like a candy bar, I'm just thankful for the awareness that has come with it. I never felt as though my generation was a part of Generation X; I actually get really annoyed when my peers claim that we are. So I was very pleased to learn of this twixter phenomenon for 2 reasons: 1) my generation has a label distinguishing us from Generation X - giving us our own identity (or prejudice, depending on how you look at it), and 2) I'm not the only one who feels overwhelmed by the onset of adulthood. Its the hallmark of our generation.

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