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subrosa wrote

Not exactly problematic, but I'd say it's a distraction and it's not very useful. More than anything else it was a response to the "entitled millennials" thing the media did, and it probably won't last, so I don't really care.

It seems like people recognize that there is something wrong with "ok boomer". Like, when I suggest that it's an unfair generalization of a whole generation, people claim that boomer is a mindset, not an age, and that's why it's ok. But if that's the case, you could make the same excuse for the "entitled millennials" thing. Don't get offended, we're just criticizing a mindset.

If we wanna blame them for what is now, we'll also have to blame millennials for what is in 10 to 20 years. I have a feeling most of 'us' would get a little defensive when young people in 2040 blame 'us' for everything.

Millennials voted for Trump and they didn't do anything about climate change. Now we're fucked.

That future headline lacks nuance, just like the 'I hate boomers' posts and comments I saw on reddit.

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JayGrym wrote

I agree with this perspective. Also, I would like to assume we all learned what a baby boomer is in school. We learned the soldiers came home and there was a population 'boom' because they were starting families. We learned the 1946-1964 babies were boomers. So (for me, at least) when i see someone say Ok, boomer I perceive agism. Due to learning what a baby boomer was when i was in elementary school and then seeing how it is currently used , i see it as agism. Is it problematic? Well, not really. A boomer might take offence but no one else seems to care lol

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lori wrote

They can endure a couple 'ok boomers' for pulling the ladder up behind them.

I don't think it's problematic, more seriously, because of its usage - you don't "ok boomer" a nice lad giving you a hand, you "ok boomer" the man who's screaming at you that climate change isn't real.

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OdiousOutlaw wrote

I don't think so (granted, I'm gen z; so I might be biased); personally, whenever I think of people categorized by generations, I think of white people. I'm aware that boomers, gen x, and gen z people of color exist, but I don't really categorize people of color by age: it feels superfluous. Boomer (and by extension, other generational labels) seem to almost always refer to sub-groups of well off white folks.

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celebratedrecluse wrote

White people have no identity, so it is easiest to categorize them by their manufacturing date. Otherwise, you might get confused, and send one to the wrong suburban house, and then you have an anxious stand your ground situation to clean up

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cronal wrote (edited )

It used to be... just remember that everyone grows old, even tho a number of these fucks are still alive and kicking. Their peak days were the '70s to '00s era. Now it's millenials taking over.

But as others said, there's nothing problematic... the term is known and even used to boomers themselves.

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Nuktuk wrote

What's a boomer?

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xprog wrote

Boomer is short for baby boomer. After World War 2, soldiers came home and started a family. The children born during this time, between 1946 and 1964, were called baby boomers.

But people use it as a meme for anyone older who doesn't relate with the hardships young people face IMO.

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rot wrote

as /xprog said, used as a stand-in for conservative, stubborn or resistant to change. Hence, "but I'm a millennial!" is not protection against being ok boomered.

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6c_6f_76_65 wrote

I don't see it as problematic. I view ok boomer the same newbie, greenhorn, little whipper snapper. Youth has many idioms.

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IsThisDialectics wrote

No, Boomer is a mindset of ignorance, you can be a boomer at any age, and just because you are a baby boomer doesn't mean you are a boomer

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vagina wrote

This is the most ridiculous take out there. Boomer is a mindset? For the millionth time, no it isn't. Don't be a fool and play into the capitalist delight.

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vagina wrote

Not a single comment arguing that it is so I'll give it a go. I don't think it's "punching up" at all. I find it to be arrogant, dismissive, and entirely hypocritical. A generation isn't a unifying force. People who happen to be born at the same time have only superficial things in common, like taste in music or appreciation for a certain style of design or architecture. Baby boomers do not share a collective socio-political identity; there were plenty of conservative boomers in the 60s and 70s and just as many lefty boomers trying to fight against capitalism and war these days.

One key point is that "ok boomer" need not be a slur in order to be problematic language. It is ridiculous ageist nonsense. It unnecessarily divides us up when we should be finding commonalities. The fact that older people hold power is nothing new and does not even remotely apply to this generation; the baby boomers clashed with their own parents. Anyone who uses the term boomer as a pejorative insult is not worth listening to.

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JayGrym wrote

Someone who cares! I was incorrect then. I actually called it out for agism but saw no one caring about its use. Eventually it is bound to be problematic. Is it offensive to the parties being referred to as boomers? Likely. Is it discriminatory? Sure. Discrimination is discrimination. The term is being misused or I'm missing the evolution of the language lol

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n_n wrote

I think that it depends on the connotation, because the phrase is generally used against boomers who are adultists toward the younger generations, like for example this kind of boomers.

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