Category: Culture

  • The Forgotten Feminine Power of Shoulder Pads

    The Forgotten Feminine Power of Shoulder Pads

    Were shoulder pads big in the 80’s? Are they coming back? Were they important to women in the workplace in the 80’s? Absolutely and I am all about it. Big in the 80’s but Not Created in the 80’s! When we think of big shoulder pads, images of the 80’s is what we think of,…

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  • Surviving the Upside Down: The Enduring Power of Nostalgia

    Surviving the Upside Down: The Enduring Power of Nostalgia

    Did the Duffer Brothers create one of the most powerful moments on the small screen? Does Max show us a path through the trauma? Was Stranger Things one of the inspirations of the Gen X Watch Project? Can nostalgia matter today and save us? Why do I start articles with questions? Yes. And because questions…

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  • Being Fearless and Wrong About Pretty in Pink

    Being Fearless and Wrong About Pretty in Pink

    Was John Hughes wrong about Pretty in Pink? Am I wrong about Pretty in Pink? Could most of us be wrong about Pretty in Pink? Probably yes. Let me explain. But first, I want to take you in the chaos that is my mind! Do Wot You Do So after writing a TMI article about…

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  • The Breakfast Club Library Confessions and Beautiful Tribes

    The Breakfast Club Library Confessions and Beautiful Tribes

    Does The Breakfast Club have insights we still need? Did belonging to a club or team help many of us find friends? Is it okay that these tribes were imperfect and the same as other tribes? Memorial for a Friend Last weekend I was at a memorial for a dear friend from high school who…

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  • Limited Time and the Unspoken Truths

    Limited Time and the Unspoken Truths

    Is Gen X running out of time? Do we need to speak the unspoken while there is still time? Yes. The Memorial Last night I participated in a memorial for the dearest of friends. Her name was Erika and I wrote about her in a poignant article in the early days of Gen X Watch.…

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  • The Devastating Impact of Christian Courtship in the 80s

    The Devastating Impact of Christian Courtship in the 80s

    Could one movement solidify rape culture? Did the movement also hurt countless queer teens? And could losing your virginity outside of marriage forever ruin your future marriage? If we are talking about Christian youth courtship in the 80’s that led to purity culture that answer is yes. What was Christian Courtship? Courtship found a revival…

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  • Delving into The Tortured Poets Department And Cowboy Carter

    Delving into The Tortured Poets Department And Cowboy Carter

    Tortured Poet’s Department Taylor Swift has broken the internet again with the release of Tortured Poet’s Department. The Swifties have brought the album into record breaking territory yet again and with that comes the hatred. Call it our collective “keyboard courage era” in which we hate in viral fashion. Like a virus, I’m thinking herpes…

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  • Is There Still Time for the Mister Rogers Generation?

    Is There Still Time for the Mister Rogers Generation?

    Is Gen X the Mister Rogers generation? Did a neighborhood fight the lie of consumerism with love? Do we still need to live his lessons? Can we be the helpers while being liked just the way we are? I hope so, because everything is on the line right now. A Neighborhood in Our Living Room…

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  • Christian Weeds in the Garden of Love Traumatically Choking Beauty

    Christian Weeds in the Garden of Love Traumatically Choking Beauty

    Was there a cultural shift in Christianity in the 80’s? Did this shift hurt women, queer people, abuse victims, and children? Is it time to have a conversation about it? Yes. Religious Trauma Syndrome This is the beginning of a limited series about Religious Trauma, mostly at the hands of Christianity. A lot of you…

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  • My Love Letter To Hip Hop

    My Love Letter To Hip Hop

    The Intro My family moved to the Cleveland area in 1983 and having moved into a racially mixed area on the southeast side I became aware of hip hop culture by my pre-teens. Our neighborhood was around the corner from Cleveland proper. It was a place full of young families, many were Black, that were…

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