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  • Essay / Analysis of Generations in The Breakfast Club

    A teenager is a Western construct of people who traditionally fall between the stage of puberty and legal adulthood, generally considered a person's adolescence. A person's adolescence is a time of self-discovery, maturity, transformation through the process of puberty and the formative years of that person's personality. Due to the introduction of new laws, technologies and media, changes related to gender identity, different lifestyles and changes related to feminism and work environments, the adolescent experience of gender for the generation Z is very different from the adolescent experience of millennials. Using a questionnaire and survey of the 1985 film The Breakfast Club, while applying Strauss-Howe generational theory to my findings, I will study the adolescent experience and how/if it has changed between these two generations. According to Strauss-Howe's generational theory, historical events are linked to recurring generational archetypes, with its characters creating a "new era" where a new social, political, and economic trend exists. These last approximately 20 to 25 years. This means that with each generation, a new wave of ideas and trends follows, and because of this, teenage life will be very different in each generation. The NSW Council for Social and Cultural Studies Level 6 syllabus states that gender is the socially constructed difference between women and men [page 11]. The idea of ​​gender and gender stereotypes has changed significantly over the last generation, with new thoughts on what it means to be a specific gender and the creation of several new genders. For the majority of human beings, gender is either masculine or feminine. Due to genotypes and DNA characteristics, men will act differently from women, which is the origin of gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes are “the patterns of behaviors, attitudes, and expectations associated with a particular sex” (Seifert and Sutton, 2019). 54.5% of people who responded to the survey believe that their gender influences certain areas of their life, in a positive or negative way. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay A millennial man said they were “given more opportunities in the workplace” because of their gender and a millennial woman said that “In general, people always thought that [girls] were not as capable as boys.” This shows the gender stereotype that men are physically stronger and more capable than women and that people change their beliefs about this still haven't changed in some areas between generations. One Gen Z woman said, “I'm assertive by nature and I've spent years changing that to make others feel comfortable. Whenever I asserted myself, I was always told that I was “bossy” or “aggressive.” Almost always by adult men. Only recently have I felt like I was able to truly nurture this aspect of myself. In friendship groups, I never lived up to the expectations of being maternal or even as compassionate as I think is expected of women.” This shows the ever-present stereotype that women should not be disruptive or loud and that they are perceived differently if they use either of these words. It's the same as the previous generation where women were expected to be calm even more..