Gen Z Thinks You’re An Unc: Gen Z’s Obsession with Age
Once you reach the prehistoric age of 22 years old, give up on your dreams. That’s been the mantra of online discourse for Zoomers, a nickname for people who were born between 1997 and 2012, aka Gen Z. This development is rather new. No longer are we in the times that Vincent Van Gogh could pick up a paintbrush for the first time at 27 or Kim Gordon could start playing the bass and guitar at 27. Now, you have to blow up at 16, or you’re forever doomed according to those online.
Where has this ticking time bomb come from for Gen Z? Perhaps from the fear of failure as social media amplifies social judgement and self-conscious feelings? Or is it the looming financial nightmare of an unsuccessful artistic career with the unforgiving prices of basic needs like rent, food, and transportation?
Looking at online communities like underground rap forums such as the sadboys and ReptilianClubBoyz reddit pages, we chose these communities because these ideals are common in them. They also use the vocab associated with these ideals to connect with each other such as unc with a negative connotation, separate from the origination of the word in the African-American community that holds a neutral connotation. These forums showcase both the impact of social judgement and financial barriers through the nihilism baked into their humor.
From the reddit user Delectablemelons on the ReptilianClubBoyz reddit page, they said “a group of teenagers walked past me and laughed. Was taking my dog out for a walk then ts happened i feel so unc and chopped im only 21 it was so embarrassing is this what it’s like to be a loser hell i even set my alarm at 4 in the morning in the hopes of making less interactions.” The nihilistic mentality of being doomed at 21, avoiding others in fear of judgement or being less than rings both of comedy and despair. The flurry of self-deprecative humor reflects the sentiment in Gen Z that achieving their dreams or acting as one’s authentic self is seen as a far-fetched reality. The despair in these words relays the isolative and depressive impact of social judgement and the lack of socioeconomic mobility in today’s youth.
The pervasiveness of social media infects the mind with a constant seeking of approval and hyperawareness of others’ judgement which leads to a multitude of negative reactions such as people retreating into their shell or changing how they represent themselves to fit into an easily consumable package for others. That downsizing and reduction of oneself makes it so that they don’t even know the self. When you don’t know the self and don’t receive outside positive reinforcement, it’s easy to fall into a downward spiral into the dark pits of depression that appear both undefeatable and all-consuming. This spiral leads to a creative psychosis that has people believing that they must throw in the towel, that they must give up their dreams, that there is no point in trying to achieve what they see when they close their eyes.
Using a metaphor of a race, the spiral assumes others are too far ahead to catch up to. The psyop of life is that it is a race. It is not a race. It is a journey of the self, completely irrelevant to anyone else’s timeline. This idea that growth ends at a certain age is dangerous. The person that stops growing dies in that very instant, even if they are still breathing.
Perpetual change, regardless of direction or speed, is the essence of life. To stay static is what the confines of capitalism want. Those in power want you to convert into a consumerist role. This is the final stage of consumerism where you solely live to take another breath because, if you break out of this psychosis, the system can no longer control your decisions. Once you realize you and only you are in control of your decisions, that you are all-powerful and that any life can be yours if you start taking steps towards it, you are unstoppable. A specific journey is not promised. A specific life is not promised. A specific result is not promised. What is promised is that different decisions lead to change. So dust off your shoes; the journey is far from over.
words by Josh Moore
