"Single White Females"

List:
Lorelai is heavily involved with her daughters life just like parents of the Millennial Generation.
The show features a single parent family, which makes up around fifty percent of American households. So the show reaches out to all the single parent households which contain Millennial children.
Lorelai lives her life as a single parent because it makes her happy and she doesn't care what other people think. This mind set is what a lot of people in the Millennial Generation have.

Summary:
"Single White Females" by Tracy McLoone describes the show The Gillmore Girls and compares it to actual society. The article gives reasons to why the show would appeal to certain audiences and then not to others. McLoone explains why the show is not very realistic, but leaves the viewer still wanting more by the end of the show. The article also contrasts the mother of the show with her daughter and the different roles they play.

After reading the article I understand that the show glorifies living as a single parent on your own terms, but doesn't present any real big problems. The show is set in a small New England quaint town. The whole show doesn't appeal to me at all. I think it sounds really boring. I believe the show is probably intended for woman, so thats why I don't find any interest in it. I agree with the points the author makes though. I think if they really wanted to make the show more realistic they wouldn't present it in such a Utopian town. Overall I didn't like the article just because the subject covered had no appeal to me.

"The Children They Gave Away"

List
Woman made the choice to give the baby up for adoption. When in fact, they were not really given a choice and were pressured to give the baby up for adoption. (Page 3)
Any woman that got pregnant was considered a slut. Most girls that became pregnant had sex with their first sexual partner and sometimes during their first sexual act. (Page 3)
A woman that gave up their child would not suffer any loss. When they returned home they would have to make up an excuse to where they had been for the past four months. (Page 3)

Summary:
"The Children They Gave Away" written by Sarah Karnasiewicz explained the truths to what really happened at maternity homes during the 50's and 60's. She uncovers that many myths we have about the choices the woman were given are false. Karnasiewisz also explains the consequences of going to the maternity homes were much greater than we had precieved. She talks about the sexual hypocrisy of the time and the lack in sexual education for the youth.

The article uncovered the false perceptions we have of the women that went to the maternity homes. Kanasiewisz did a good job of giving stories and researching women that had attended these wards. She did a good contrast and comparison in the investigation that African American woman and caucasian woman shared similar stories. I didn't really relate to this article too much probably because I felt it was geared more towards woman. The article does bring up Pro-Choice and Pro-Life opinons, even though abortion was not legalized during the time of these maternity homes. Overall I think this article was well researched, but it just didn't click for me because I think it was written more for woman that were Pro-Choice.

"You Don't Need Their Approval"

List:
GenerationMe is becoming less polite. (42)
GenerationMe uses swear words more regularly now.(40)
GenerationMe is more open to talk about their life such as their sexual experiences.(38)
Advertising for GenerationMe is now including a lot of sexual products such as condoms and erection drugs.
Interracial dating and marriages are no longer a social rare with 1 out of 17 marriages is interracial.(32)
GenerationMe is questioning traditional religions and personalizing them to fit their lifestyles.(34)
Dancing now is more of an individuals expression of one-self and rarely involves a partner.(24)
GenerationMe sets its own morals and values according to their lifestyle.(23)

Summary
"You Don't Need Their Approval" written by Jean M. Twenge explains the decline of traditional social rules among GenerationMe. Twenge points out the new lifestyles and habits GenerationMe has adapted to. The author explain that members of GenerationMe are not inclined to undergo uncomfortable customs to make a good impression, but are more worried about being happy, comfortable, and natural. GenerationMe is into personalizing their lifestyle to what they like without worrying about what their impression may look like to other people.

I agree with what the author points out in this article. GenerationMe is very into personalizing their lifestyle to what they like regardless of what people think of them. GenerationMe is very open-minded from dress to interracial marriages to same sex marriage. The generation reminds me of the phrase "Whatever floats your boat". We do whatever makes us happy and don't really care what people think of us because of it. Our generation also tends to question authority and I have no reason why. If I had to guess, it would maybe because our Baby Boomer parents were rebelious during their youth time and we could have just inherited it from them. I have also noticed in my generation the casual use of swear words. The words can be heard everwhere now from the radio to the T.V. Overall I think this article made a lot of sense and had some really good points.

"The Happiness Business"

List:
The Millennial Generation is a very up-beat generation. (242)
The Millennial Generation is into a "magical simplicity" (249)
The Millennial Generation is the most catered to in the history of pop culture. (250)
The Millennial Generation views sexuality as a weakness rather than martial bonding. (256)
The Millennial Generation values heroism and courage a lot. (256)

The article "The Happy Buisness" by Howe and Strauss explains why the Millennial Generation is so much different from the previous generations. They explain how the Millennial's have a happy up-beat style pop culture and that they won't be into all of the same things other generations have been into. The Millennials will pick and choose what they want to keep from what they are offered. Millennials also have their own morals that they value.

The article really clicked with me because most of the pop culture that they talked about was what I had grown up with. One of the things I don't think was true was the part about "magical simplicity". I think this is because I was just a little too old to completely appreciate it. I agree with the whole sex topic though. Millennials don't really see sex as what it should be, a romantic bonding. Instead it is viewed as a weakness that has many negative aspects such as disease and unplanned pregnancy. The Millennials are also very into video games rather than movies and I can relate to that. This article did a good job going through the different parts of the Millennial's pop culture to explain why it is different from what everyone had expected. Overall I liked the article because it used pop culture I had experienced.

"Dont Trust Anyone Over Thirty: A History of the Baby Boom"

List:
The Baby Boomers brought radical ideas to the political market place.
Baby Boomers are responsible for the computers that are shaping the world.
The Baby Boomers protested the Vietnam War as well as supplied the soldiers that went to fight.
The Baby Boomers used their activism towards drugs, to now go anti-drug to protect their children.
The Baby Boomers protested and fought and got civil rights for everyone.

Summary:
"Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty" by Howard Smead describes the contributions the Baby Boomers have made to the following generations. The Baby Boomers are using the same enthusiasm and activism they had towards certain issues to fight things that they started. They are basically now fighting in the opposite direction they use to. The Baby Boomers also observed a lot of history which shaped the way that they view certain things.

I really enjoyed this article because it basically explained that the Baby Boomers are using the same activism they used towards the use of drugs to now pass out drug free school flyers. It shows that they can be very influential when they are passionate about an issue. I also noticed that the article stated that the once liberal thinking parents are now conservative. The article basically just shows that the Baby Boomers grew more mature and changed their views on a lot of things. I think the reason that they did this was to help their children not make the same mistakes that they did when they were young. The article was very informative and included a lot of detail which I really liked.

"The Time of Their Lives"

List:
The Great Depression.
World War 2.
Woman's Right to Vote.

Summary
Brokaw's "The Time of Their Lives" was written to describe what events lead the Baby Boomer's generation to be birthmarked for greatness. The article starts off by giving a background of what has been going on in the time of this generation. Later on in the article the author transitions to a different point of view and gives a personal look from his eyes of what he remembers from that time.

The author gave a really good description of the events that the generation went through. I really enjoyed the detail that he went into. The article also explain in steps of how Hitler came to rise, how the war emerged. My favorite part of the article was how he wrote it through his eyes. I liked how he described what his mother and father's jobs were. When he brought up the fact that his sister graduated from highschool at sixteen, to work at the post office for a dollar a day. Then on top of that he mentions that his sister makes more than his father. The author also included what kinds of jobs his extended family did which gave me a good picture of the depression. The article gave a good representation of how everyone from the generation had a rough life, but which lead them to be successful.

"Farther Along the X Axis"

List
Gen Xers are buying homes while they are younger rather than buying an apartment and living there until married. They are defying the traditonal way things use to be.
Gen Xers are researching products online and are very informed when they come go buy things.
Gen Xers shop at high-end stores as well as discount stores so they are very versatile. This causes stores to provide good products as well as good customer service.
Gen Xers aren't as loyal to one brand as the Baby Boomers were.

Summary:
"Farther Along the X Axis" written by American Demographics explains why Generation X is hard to market products to. They don't buy things just to buy things, but buy for a purpose. Gen Xers have also picked up some traits from the Baby Boomers such as the importance of family values. Parents are setting the times they work in order to spend time with family. Gen Xers have also started their own trends such home ownership at a much younger age.

This article did a good job of explaining how Gen Xers are hard to market to. I think the research done to make the arguements legit are very well thought out and written. I enjoyed the writer's specific story in the beginning that dealt with Gen Xer's attitude towards family values. It set a good pace for the rest of the article. Another part I liked was the section entitled the Martha Stewart Effect. It clicked for me just because I have noticed the increase in "do it yourself" decorating and remodeling shows. Overall this article had about the same message the article previous to this entitled "A Post-Cynic's Manifesto" had. This article was much better written than the other though. It was more detailed and longer, but it got its point across much clearer while still having some attitude to it.

"Orthodox" "A Post-Cynic's Manifesto"

List:
The unusually large impact that they have had on our economy.
Generation X's invention of a free agency lifestyle.
Generation X has the lowest participation of young adult voters ever.

Summary:
The article "A Post-Cynic's Manifesto" was writtten in the attempt to present the way Gen Xer's think when it comes to advertising and purchasing items. Gen Xer's are looking for something "authentic" nothing mainstream. They don't want to participate in the mass illusion of things. They would much rather buy something hand made in a "Ma and Pa" style store than to buy a mass produced product in a factory. The article then cites specific examples to back it's statement.

Both of the articles dealt with explaining the Generation X's way of thinking. "OrthodoX" described the contributions of Gen X both positive and negative. Then it also went into some of the down falls of the generation. I liked how it broke it all down into seven different categories and explained each one. When the "OrthodoX" talked about the lifestyles of Gen X being "free agent" like I thought that it was a good way of putting it. Another thing I liked about the article is how it explained that if Gen X cares about something they will have a big effect on it, but if they don't, they won't do anything about it. "A Post-Cynic's Manifesto" was more concentrated on marketing and the way the Gen X consumer thinks. It cited a lot of examples which helped give some logos to the whole article. In both of the articles I noticed that they both mentioned a decrease in spirituality for the Gen Xers. I thought that was kinda interesting. Overall the articles were good, but I prefered the "OrthodoX" article over "A Post-Cynic's Manifesto" because it was easier to read and focused on more than just one aspect.

"From Babies on Board to Power Teens"

List: Sheltered: The Millennials were raised in an era where there was the most sweeping youth safety movement in American history. Gen X children were told to take care of themselves. Special: Millennial children were raised with precious baby movies and animated cartoons like The Little Mermaid. They were given a sense that they were an important part of their parent's sense of purpose. The Gen X children were taught to leave their distracted parents alone. Pressured: Millennial children were taught to study hard and to take full advantage of all oppurtunities. Gen X children were told to set their own standards. Conventional: The Millennial children took pride in the improvement of their behavior and were comfortable with their parents values. Gen X children were known as the "experimental generation" and developed an alienated youth culture. Team-Oriented: Millennial children were taught to develop strong team and peer bonds. Gen X children were more likely to trust the individual . The passage "From Babies on Board to Power Teens" attempts to explain the differences in treatment between the Millennial children(1985-today) and Gen X children(1965-1985). The author explains the Boomer's sudden development of being "into" the deeper meaning of creating families. The passage explains how the Baby Boomer generation went from staying away from childbirth to taking every precaution to ensure the "best" for their child. In the passage it goes into more detail on what events led to all of this. My opinion on this article is that it made the Gen X children out to look like a bunch of uncivilized crazy kids. It really made the parents out to look very unresponsible too. The article is very detailed though and presents a lot of respectable logos. I liked the different graphs presented to show the differences in all the generations. The events mentioned in the article help to provide a good explanation on how the Millennial children were more sheltered, pressured, and confident than the Gen X children. Most of the statements I agree with because I remember the events that took place to change something, such as the Columbine shootings. I can remember the stricter rules that followed afterwards such as: more school uniform rules, lockdown drills, and the zero tolerance acts. Overall I agree with this article because of the well backed reasonings.