Generation We

Generation We: The Power and Promise of Gen Z caught my eye on Goodreads for a couple of reasons. I happen to be one of the youngest Millennials (1995) and my sister is one of the oldest Gen Zs (1997). I always believed we grew up in a fairly similar world since we're only a year and a half apart. It was crazy reading this book and being able to relate back to my sister and so many of my close friends. I have Gen Z friends out here killing it as parents and some who still live at home with their parents. Some of them have started their own businesses and some are still working for the man. But the one thing we can't deny is how powerful this generation is going to be.

I have fought with southern old white women about gender equality, systemic racism, LGBTQ+ rights, and even healthcare. It blows my mind that some people are willing to argue that some people don't deserve equal rights. But Gen Z is fully prepared to face lawmakers head. They are not sitting idly while legislation creates a less than ideal world for the future, they're taking action and holding major corporations accountable for their wrongdoings.

Author, AnneMarie Hayek, acknowledges that she is Gen X and used a team of Gen Zs to help create this book and received input from Gen Zs all over the US. Hayek is a partner of the company Global Mosaic, which is who published this book. 

All that being said, I had a few issues with it. Just doing a basic google search would discredit several topics brought up in the book. At one point, the author begins talking about Billie Eilish's career and how she became famous after posting a song on SoundCloud. When mentioning Eilish again, the author states that Eilish actually uses they/them pronouns. Now, I can't find any information stating that this is true. But if it was, someone on her team missed the potentially harmful use of she/her instead of they/them when discussing Billie Eilish.

Hayek also discusses something she refers to as Eco-Anxiety and Eco-PTSD. The idea behind these disorders is that Gen Z is struggling to cope with the deteriorating climate and what they can do to reduce their carbon footprint. Hayek claims that many teens are struggling with these new disorders. While the American Psychology Association has acknowledged Eco-Anxiety as a stressor, no psychologist is currently treating this as a diagnosable disorder.

I am glad that I read this book. I just wish some of the topics were researched a bit more.