On ‘geriatric millennials’

I was quoted in a nice article by Kasia Delgado for the i: ‘“Geriatric millennials” is the latest meaningless micro-generation – and yet I still feel left out’:

‘The more curious question is why these seemingly arbitrary cohorts exist at all. “These generational labels are culturally constructed and imposed on people,” says Jennie Bristow, senior sociology lecturer at Canterbury Christ University. “There’s the difference between what marketers and the media talk about, and then the way that people see themselves.

‘“What tends to happen now with identity labels, as identity politics develops, is people are compelled to adopt the term, but are also repelled by it. Instead of saying, ‘Well, that just doesn’t represent me’, people now try and find some sort of defensive, alternative category.”’