tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post6321884685865506581..comments2024-03-12T22:31:46.500-04:00Comments on What Would Phoebe Do?: An Odyssey with Generation QPhoebe Maltz Bovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-2498443838163635302007-10-10T22:36:00.000-04:002007-10-10T22:36:00.000-04:00What's too quickly? Is it "playing dress up" to ta...What's too quickly? Is it "playing dress up" to take a job that allows you to be self-supporting/pay back loans upon finishing college? Most young-sounding post-college jobs are internships and pay nothing or close. It does feel like dress-up the first time you put on a suit, whether the interview is for a banking job or a non-profit. Then one day, dressing like a grown-up seems normal. That is why God invented Banana Republic.Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-16180741491296222552007-10-10T17:16:00.000-04:002007-10-10T17:16:00.000-04:00I majored in economics and work in management cons...I majored in economics and work in management consulting, yet I still identify many bankers as "douches." (Maybe I'm a douche, too.) But I think there's something to be said about how becoming too adult, too quickly makes someone seem not adult, but only like they're playing dress up, or fanatically seeking approval from real adults or authority figures -- behaviors in line with people who get the "douche" moniker.Hathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02354635337903994221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-61624420591167566092007-10-10T13:42:00.000-04:002007-10-10T13:42:00.000-04:00True enough. There's no one moment, just a shift i...True enough. There's no one moment, just a shift in sentiment from genuine surprise at 22 to feigned surprise at 30.Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-64112872578030009362007-10-10T13:34:00.000-04:002007-10-10T13:34:00.000-04:00I agree. I don't really think adulthood is all tha...I agree. I don't really think adulthood is all that subjective. I'm just suggesting another reason (aside from jealousy) that people claim not to consider marriage and parenthood to be as important. At some point, jealousy likely does kick in, but I don't think that a 22-yo who expresses surprise at his classmate's marriage is secretly jealous. I think he could genuinely not want to get married just yet, but also consider himself basically an adult who is putting off that event.Miss Self-Importanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12137742112649375756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-49099081752109020072007-10-10T13:23:00.000-04:002007-10-10T13:23:00.000-04:00I'd say adulthood isn't so much when one reaches t...I'd say adulthood isn't so much when one reaches these benchmarks, but when one notices that one's peers are doing so and this seems enviable rather than odd (as in, a high school junior, married with kids). At what age this happens varies, I'd imagine, by cultural context. The 'still finding myself' contingent is fully adult, because they are articulating a choice as different from what they recognize is still expected for people at their stage in life.Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-1656331091823246792007-10-10T13:15:00.000-04:002007-10-10T13:15:00.000-04:00I'm inclined to agree that basically people still ...I'm inclined to agree that basically people still do think that marriage, parenthood, career stability, etc are the real benchmarks for adulthood--at least for evaluating whether other people are adults if not for evaluating whether we ourselves are. <A HREF="http://www.jeffreyarnett.com/articles/Arnett_2001_JAD.pdf" REL="nofollow">This </A> <A HREF="http://www.jeffreyarnett.com/articles/Arnett_2007_JYA.pdf" REL="nofollow">guy </A> makes a good point in saying that people who have not yet reached certain concrete benchmarks like marriage and childbirth tend to think these are less important markers of adulthood than those who are past them, and who will tend to recall them as the most significant markers. Unmarried, childless people put more emphasis on financial independence and employment since those are relatively more significant changes in their recent experience.Miss Self-Importanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12137742112649375756noreply@blogger.com