There are bitter, malicious people in every generation, but some believe generational identity is not real.
With each generation being so different, it’s hard to collectively name traits or condemn struggles when they aren’t always true for each person. However, there are still some things Gen Z find unappealing about millennials’ personalities. At least they’re the kind of thing they’ve collectively assumed every millennium embodies, even if it’s not true.
The things Gen Z find unappealing about millennial personalities
1. Need to differentiate
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Many Gen Zers find it offensive when millennials make a clear effort to differentiate themselves from their generation. While it’s not a trait that all millennials have, you can hear just one millennial say something like, “Why do you think I’m Gen Z?” is enough to stick around and feel offensive.
So many young people are constant make comments and judgments about their generation from older people, so having the generation closest to them and their experience spew similar kinds of comments is hurtful to say the least.
But many people don’t say those kinds of things about Gen Z. Some may even feel a sense of honest community with their generation, which is why they’re quick to correct people that they’re millennials. Despite all this, the gap between generations is something Gen Z perceives as irritating and unappealing.
2. Their cringiness
Many young people make fun of millennials on social media and criticize them for being “cringy” when really they’re just referencing their own tendencies and connecting with people in their own communities. Just as Gen Zers have their own snakes and tendencies to connect with each other, which many other generations find terrifying, so do millennials.
From selfie angles to clothing styles, millennials have collectively assumed an uncool identityusually as a means of projecting the things young people dislike in their own generation.
3. Constant optimism
While Gen Zers are advocates and challengers in the face of injustice, they also tend to struggle with highest prevalence of mental illness and therefore pessimism than others. They are anxious and overwhelmed by their lives and the state of the world compared to millennials, who tend to be much more optimistic, according to psychology professor Jean Twenge.
As they struggle to see the light at the end of the tunnel or the bright side of their chronic struggles, it can be unappealing and annoying to be around millennials, who are always optimistic. Sometimes wallowing in struggles and having someone to listen to instead of saying “at least you’re not…” is what a young person really wants.
4. Traditional family values
So many Gen Zeres think their millennial friends and family members are hypocrites because even though they’ve largely been described as more tolerant, modern people than their parents, still have traditional family values.
Wanting a family and kids is great, and it’s not something Gen Zers necessarily criticize in other generations. But being pressured to do the same seems intrusive, especially from millennials who are supposed to be their more tolerant, modern counterparts. If they don’t want children, they don’t want to have to defend themselves.
5. Their big sibling energy
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Yes, millennials are older by definition. Yes, they are often the oldest siblings and sometimes parents of Gen Zers. But this mentality of being the smarter, more influential person outside of personal relationships is one of the most unappealing parts of a millennial’s personality to younger people.
For Gen Zers, there’s nothing more annoying than feeling like they’re being parented by a fellow millennial or criticized by a millennial stranger who feels superior just because of their age.
6. Gatekeeping 90s culture
Despite the fact that many Gen Zers were born in the late 90s, millennials tend to be overprotective of their 90s baby status. Like actively differentiating themselves from younger generations, claiming ’90s culture as something only they can be proud of or appreciate can feel both invalid and offensive to millennials.
Whether it’s nostalgic posts on Instagram or small jabs at Gen Zers raised in the 2000s, seeing a period overtaken by certain millennials can feel irritating and off-putting to younger generations.
7. Severity
Many millennials have reposted motivational Instagram posts or shared a serious update on Facebook. For them, it can feel like second nature, especially given their values of individualism and community.
But for Gen Zers, often nihilistic and pessimisticit is one of the most highly rated aspects of millennials’ perceived identity. It’s part of what young people characterize as “cringe” culture, even when it’s light-hearted and thought-provoking at its core.
8. Choice of clothing
Although they seem so subtle and small, there are all kinds of clothing choices and stylistic decisions that Gen Z finds unappealing about millennials. From wearing ankle socks to choosing a different cut of tight jeans, the differences between Gen Z and millennial style make a big difference in their perception of each other.
Considering that young people today have something of an obsession with their clothes and personal style, even in the workplace, these small style choices play a much bigger role than they might for boomers or Gen Xers.
9. Feeds into the crowd culture
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While the busyness of boomers has changed a bit for Gen X and millennials, it is identity that comes from exhaustion is still normalized. Many millennials take pride in overexerting themselves, taking calls outside of work hours, and maintaining vague boundaries, even at their own expense.
Millennials led the “girl boss” era and prided themselves on the hustle and bustle of Corporate America. And while they do it appreciate work-life balance to some extentare there still remnants of the crowd culture around the Gen Z hate.
10. Gatekeeper nostalgia
In addition to clinging to ’90s culture, millennials are often perceived as gatekeepers of style trends and brands. From Disney movies to 90s style trends like the scrunchieGen Zers perceived millennials to be annoyingly obsessed with these trends and did not allow others to accept or indulge them.
While it’s purely the comforting nature of nostalgia that brings millennials back to these songs and garments, it feels easy for Gen Zers to put it all together for nefarious purposes.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & politics and gender studies, focusing on psychology, relationships, self-help and human interest stories.
