Has Gen Z already gone cringe?

The internet has shamelessly mocked Millennials for years. With the arrival of Gen Z, generational characteristics such as a passion for avocado toast, Harry Potter, and self-deprecating jokes have given way to viral TikTok recipes, Fleabag, and post-ironic memes. The distinctive traits of the youth who "discovered" the internet appear cringe and cheugy to the eyes of Zoomers, born with a phone in hand. However, it seems that disdain for the previous generation is historically cyclical, like fashion trends. As we approach 2024, the year when the firstborns of the Generation Alpha enter adolescence, we must ask ourselves if we have reached a point of no return for Gen Z. After all, how long does the golden age of a generation last, if not the time for it to grow up? Not long ago, we got a glimpse of the personality of Gen Alpha. In a video clip from the reality show The Kardashians, Kim and Kanye's daughter, North West - born in 2013 - criticised her mother's Met Gala outfit in front of the couturier who created it without hesitation. According to the young West, the pearls looked fake, and the look reminded her of a traditional Hawaiian girl's dress. While Kim Kardashian and Daniel Roseberry belong to the Millennial generation, considering the media influence that Skims' founder and the designer of Schiaparelli have on the Gen Z audience, and judging by the behaviour of West, it seems like Gen Alpha is already ready to hate on Zoomers - and everything they love.

Despite their passion for political activism, social causes, and the environment, the generation raised on bread and social media has some critical aspects that may seem anachronistic. Setting aside fashion trends that have recently resurrected even Paris Hilton's jumpsuits and the Jo Exotic haircut, let's talk about the epidemic of online self-diagnosis. The sharing of informative content by specialists such as psychologists and dermatologists on TikTok has allowed many users to find answers to their ailments. At the same time, it has allowed everyone else to associate vague symptoms with phantom diseases and disorders, turning #bpd and #schizophrenia into hashtags with billions of views - awareness and information are one thing, exploitation is another. Not to mention the widespread social inadequacy felt by Gen Z: in America, several studies show that we are witnessing a "friendship recession," a real phenomenon of loneliness that affects all under-30s, exacerbated by the 2020 pandemic and the use - excuse the cliché, but here we quote university professors and institutions - of social media as a dating and community-building platform. Once, we made fun of the elderly who snubbed phones, remembering the times when they «still played on the streets». Now, we have to admit they were right. Gen Z's lack of social skills has manifested in an infinite number of hilarious memes that, instead of mocking their ordinariness like Millennials did, draw inspiration from their own vulnerability. Judging by North West's harshness, the anxieties of Gen Z - even when ordering a plate of pasta - will not be funny for long and will become the new bottom of humor, just as Millennial humor did in turn.

Victimhood aside, returning to the fashion topic, it must be said that the pool of trends from which Gen Alpha can draw to ridicule the stylistic preferences of Gen Z is filled with ideas. The Pinterest look alone was not enough to make the under-30s similar to each other, like cards from the same deck that can only vary by - zodiac - sign. For Zoomers, one must demonstrate a unique personality through fits, even though ultimately following trends is the only way to land on TikTok's For You page. Coquettecore, Blokecore, Old Money, and Dark Academia were not just cute nicknames to define an aesthetic, but unconventional niches designed to evoke a vague sense of uniqueness - a kind of performance that allowed every organ of Gen Z to put their ego under the spotlight and justify their narcissism through fashion. For those who don't like fit checks and fit pics, whether by nature or shyness, there is activism. Social media has given everyone a stage to shine on, assuming they were photogenic and could believe in the Law of Attraction. Now that we're in 2024 and the North Wests of the world have internet-connected phones, Gen Z's  audience is not just made of moms, dads, and peers, but also of little sisters who, after raising their head from their iPad, annoyingly point out that the pearls in our necklace look fake - and that aquaculture contributes to the destruction of natural pearl oyster beds.