Gen Z'ers Are Calling Out The Modern Norms And Trends That Need To End, And I Agree With A Lot Of Them
Recently, u/Former-Session6405 asked r/GenZ to call out the things that are normalized these days that really shouldn't be, saying, "For example, the increase of these BBLs are just crazy to me, and it’s becoming so common that natural bodies seem to be 'out of style' and that worries me for future generations."
In response, people got brutally honest about everything from vaping to climate change. Here's what they had to say:
The most upvoted comment in the thread criticized people for constantly recording videos on their phones, especially in situations where it could affect someone's health or safety, and when people have not given their consent to be recorded:
"Standing around and recording while someone's life is in danger."
"Recording yourself at the gym, in the locker room, and acting confused why people are pissed at you.
Or people who record somebody in hopes of ruining their life or career."
"Recording other people has gotten out of hand in general."
Gen Z'ers also expressed concerns about the next generation's relationship with technology:
"Children being obsessed with technology. Sure, as kids a lot of us were on the internet but I was never on it literally all the time. Kids nowadays have actual meltdowns if they can’t be on their iPad rotting away their brains for two seconds."
"My youngest brother is 8, and if he’s not on the VR, he’s on his computer, and he’s not on either, it’s because he’s eating at the table with his tablet/iPad."
"And it’s not like they even know how to use technology outside of TikTok, YouTube, or Disney+. If you ask those kids to look anything up or find a specific video without just clicking through recommend videos every 5 seconds, they’d have a hissy fit. They spend all their time on those apps and nothing else. It’s beyond sad at this point."
And they called out my personal pet peeve — people playing audio on their phones in public without using headphones:
"People thinking it’s socially acceptable to play music/videos out loud on their phones in public. Ain’t nobody wanna hear that shit 😑."
"Worse than music is people watching TikTok videos out loud; it's just weird, annoying repeating sounds."
"People having full-on conversations on speaker phone in public. I don’t need or want to hear your private conversation."
Some Gen Z'ers worry about the ways that readily-available online porn is affecting kids:
"I don't think it should be banned, but it's just entirely too accessible for kids. I get parents should monitor their children's devices, but I still think there should be more regulation."
"Yep, I was exposed to it when I was like... 7 maybe? Now I'm a hypersexual trying to stop myself from oversexualizing myself all the time."
And they are absolutely fed up with tipping culture in the US:
"It used to be optional and 10% was a solid one, 15% a good one. I have seen 25% now, and most machines ask for 15% at the start. And the no option is squirreled off, so you have to find it / do an obvious motion, and often it’s on an iPad and the guy who you are presumably tipping is right there.
The food places are just not paying people now? That and tipping is popping up in places where it has no right to."
"Asking me to tip before I receive a service is ridiculous. Asking me to tip when I ordered and picked up the food myself to supplement the wage slavery income these poor food workers deal with is demonic."
"Don't forget the shame and attitude you get when you don't tip or voice that you don't want to tip. Don't hate me for not tipping you; hate your greedy corporate boss for not paying you enough. I just want my food. It's not my responsibility to supply people's wages."
Some shared that they don't think vaping should be as popular and normalized as it has become:
"Vaping. I understand cigarettes were a big thing in the past, but now I see a lot more people vaping or casually smoking weed. Everything’s got pretty colors and fun flavors to appeal to younger and younger people. If I remember correctly, I saw an article somewhere that cigarette smoke is at an all-time low while also mentioning vaping is at record highs."
"Don't get me started on people who vape inside buildings and just breathe out their vapor all over people. They can get really offended when you ask them to stop, too, as if you're the one in the wrong."
"I met a kid at the skatepark the other day who vaped. He was 10 years old!!! He thought he was such a badass doing it too, so sad to see. However, I don't think (or at least I hope) that it's that common for kids his age to do that."
"One thing I have noticed is that cigarettes seem to be being rehabilitated as cool in movies and TV again. I think it's a rebellion against the ubiquity and perceived childishness of vapes. There was a short period in the 2010s when it seemed people had decided not to include them in media, as they were really something your grandma smoked. That seems to have changed."
They're also frustrated by the combination of low wages and higher costs of living that mean people have to work constantly just to get by:
"Working 50–60 hours multiple jobs just to get by."
"In a lot of jobs, they don’t want to give employees any more hours. You get locked at 40 and told that overtime will piss everyone above you off and to avoid it like the plague. It's why people end up taking multiple gigs."
"It shouldn't take a person to turn themselves into a brand, having multiple side hustles to survive. A person should be able to not just survive but thrive on the income of just one job
I think it's crazy how we normalize commodifying your hobbies, turning your passion into businesses, etc."
And others pointed out how harmful the polarized tone of our discourse has become:
"The constant dehumanization that everybody seems to do to the people they don't like. The internet and the lack of face-to-face interactions have made it worse. When you used to talk about someone, you saw them, you heard them, and on a subconscious level, you related to them. That aspect is missing now."
"The biggest thing of all; the refusal to accept other opinions. Also, people be taking opinions as facts."
"Labeling everything as cancel culture. It’s really weird to me how creators and celebrities can act like fools and just label every negative reaction to them as cancel culture."
While some criticized the way social media filters and the growing availability of cosmetic procedures have led to an impossible standard of beauty:
"We’ve been so accustomed to filtered faces with 10lbs of makeup on that we forget things like dark circles and fine lines are perfectly normal. I mean, I saw this 28-year-old woman on TikTok get torn apart for looking like a 28-year-old woman, and there are kids as young as ten investing in skincare?? Why are 10-year-olds afraid of aging? It’s like we don’t even want to look human anymore, and we have to cover up every little flaw, whether it be with makeup or a filter, and I’m sick of it."
"The face filters and makeup are bad, but the body filters are worse in my opinion. The way you can essentially completely change the shape of someone’s body and make it look real because it stays the same throughout a video is so insane. And so many people think absolutely physically impossible bodies are completely normal and what everyone should look like. The Photoshop on magazines and ads was bad in the 2000s and early 2010s, but those were just on celebrities who weren’t 'real people.' Now anyone can edit themselves like that and to extreme measures. And you can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t. It’s scary and so unhealthy."
And Gen Z'ers say they're so over everything being offered as a subscription.
"Subscription-based everything."
"Yeah, this is the big one for me. I’d rather buy something and own it more than anything."
Finally, many of them worry about complacency in the face of the looming climate crisis:
"The idea that companies or economies should produce more each year when we are rapidly consuming every natural resource."
"Loss of biodiversity. It's in your own backyard, and nobody does anything about it. Every new project is a loss of an ecosystem that many animals relied on."
Now I'm curious: what do you think about these takes? Is there anything you would add? Let's talk about it in the comments.
