The biggest question of 2022: is Gen Z too soft? Millennials never fail to remind the younger generations that they were too strong for therapy. ¨Being offended¨ was seen as stupid and to just get over it. Now, therapy is a great resource for Gen Z because mental health is finally a topic many people are opening up about. Many young adults and teenagers share their stories of anxiety, depression, BPD, etc. This is making others comfortable to take action and get help. 

With social media being popular right now, cancel culture is also very popular. Cancel culture is when people stop supporting a celebrity and hate on them to go against an offensive action they did. Celebrities are getting ¨canceled¨ for saying racist things or taking actions that offend people.

Whether they are meant to be hurtful or not, they are being called out and hated on by millions. Older people seem to think cancel culture is unnecessary. This is for the simple fact that people make mistakes and it’s sad that one mistake can lead to death threats and cyberbullying. Millennials feel as though it’s so drastic and this would have never happened in their day.

The debate about Gen Z being soft is primarily on social media. For example, Hispanic people are getting braids now. This is causing backlash because Black people feel braids are their culture and others are stealing it. The people that are getting braids feel as though there is nothing wrong with sharing culture. They are also saying that if you have the hair type for it, get them. Gen Z fights their argument till the end and doesn’t always see the other side. The other side is millennials feeling as though everyone can do any hairstyle they like. Back in the 90s, white, Hispanic, and Black people got braids and heads never turned.

Half of the new generation makes jokes that some people don’t find funny. Dark humor and trauma dumping is prominent in 2022. Dark humor is used by people who make jokes about serious situations. Trauma dumping is when you share your story in a way that isn’t serious but it actually is. Gen Z uses this because that is how many people deal with and process it.

The other half of the new generation and millennials find this insensitive and cold. They feel as though making light of sad and scary things is terrible. This raises a different question… Does Gen Z need to toughen up or do millennials need to be more compassionate? Millennials grew up in a generation where having tough skin was necessary. They dealt with their problems by themselves and learned to fight through them.

Gen Z feels as though therapy and other resources are available, so why not use them? Social media also wasn’t around as much as it is today. This prevents a lot of people from being bullied, sharing their stories, and making people, especially females insecure.

Gen Z is the new generation and our future, it’s time to start listening to them but they also need to listen to everyone else as well.