My earliest reference is from 1993: Is America turning into nation of wimps and crybabies? Two books may have accelerated this topic: The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity (2005) and A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting (2008).
Despite many references (eg, PT-2004: A Nation of Wimps), there’s no Wikipedia for wimp generation; only for wimp. Its Taiwanese equivalent does have a Wiki-page: strawberry generation:
“Strawberry generation [] is a Chinese-language neologism used in Taiwan for Taiwanese people born from 1990s onwards who “bruise easily” like strawberries – meaning they cannot withstand social pressure or work hard like their parents’ generation; the term refers to people who are perceived as insubordinate, spoiled, selfish, arrogant, and sluggish in work.”
Wikipedia: strawberry generation
Recently, someone’s daughter, who is in her 30’s, had stated that the men of her generation are all wimps (in Dutch: watjes). I checked this with my son (25). Apparently, the term wimp generation – or watjes generatie in Dutch – is a common (derogatory) nickname, even in their generation.
I haven’t written on this topic before for several reasons, like (i) not having any personal experience, and (ii) my “known” examples are possible outliers. Moreover, every generation is critical towards new generations; see my 2016 blog: Everything used to be better ……..
![](https://leonoudejans.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/reversal2BNeeds2BWants2BBeliefs2Bv12B-2BLeon2Bblog.png)
Today, I have less doubt because it fits with several concepts, including mine. Please see my diagram of 2018–2020.
The generation of my grandparents was post-WW1. My parents’ generation was mainly post-WW2. They struggled to meet their needs.
My generation (1960) is all about consumerism or wants (eg, my 2016 blog: Consumerism – More is Better).
Current generations (eg, Gen Y, Gen Z) are about (extreme) beliefs, like cryptos, incel, less work is more time, lying flat, and/or sexual identity.
The above mainly applies to men. Why??
In 2022, I published my blog Love, Knowledge & Power, a f/m perspective. Love, Knowledge & Power are domains within the 7 Belief systems. Most men are focused on Power (eg, money), while women are often focused on Knowledge. The glue that keeps them together are Love and lust.
Since 2010, news articles (eg, TAP-2011, NYT-2012) argued that Gen Y (a.k.a. millennials) and Gen Z will have worse (economic) prospects than their parents (a.k.a. boomers). This belief caused a split: either young people are working hard, or they have adopted a victim role (a.k.a. whining by wimps).
In my view, all of the above is related to the Strauss-Howe generational cycle (see center of my diagram), as “devised by William Strauss and Neil Howe, [which] describes a theorized recurring generation cycle in American history and Western history“.
“Recently, the Autism Journal tweeted this quote, “Don’t rescue your child from a challenge, teach them how to face it.” That is the ultimate goal of parenthood – teaching children to overcome obstacles and become adults themselves.” Note: markings in quote by LO.
Quote from 2022 article Are we Raising a Nation of Wimps? PART 1
Watermelon Sugar (2020) by Harry Styles
artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-artist, Wiki-song
[Verse 1]
Tastes like strawberries on a summer evenin’
And it sounds just like a song
I want more berries and that summer feelin’
It’s so wonderful and warm
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
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