Poor Little Snowflakes
Is ‘Poor little snowflake’ truly the defining insult of 2016? University students explain what this term means to them.
Collins Dictionary defines the term ‘snowflake generation’ as “The generation of people who became adults in the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations.”
Rebecca Nicholson, writing for the Guardian, wrote that the phrase became well known a few years ago on American campuses through criticizing the hypersensitivity of a younger generation towards criticism, where it was tied into a debate over safe spaces and no platforming.
So what do millennials really think about the term? Do they believe it defines their generation? Several university students were asked to give their opinions on this matter.
Min, 24, said, “I think maybe because of the upbringings, it sort of generalize the generation, because they’re a bit pampered, but I don’t think it [should address] the whole lot because there will always be exception and not every family has the same upbringing… Some may be tougher than others.”
Ming, 22, said, “There may be people who are open-minded that may not be easily offended by things, and I also know of people who are very easily offended by things.”
Winnie, 21, said, “I feel that the younger generation, below [20 years old are] so spoiled. But people my age are okay, [however not] the teens.” She also believes that all this is related to the media, as millennials now have the platform to express their feelings through social media, whereas the previous generations did not.
Sherilyn, 21, said that the “snowflake generation” doesn’t necessarily defines her generation, “It’s not like we try to be more tough or anything, it’s more like we like to care about our [individuality], to be unique… I don’t think we really care about what other people think.”
Anwar, 20, said that his understanding of the term is this: “So generation snowflake in my opinion is in relation similarly to the fact that millennials, [or] generation Y are born thinking that they are meant for great things. But in reality they’re basically ordinary. That’s why happiness rate is so much lower than it was in the 50s.” When asked whether he believes the term defines his generation, he said, “Yes I believe so. I grew up being taught that I’ll be the best in everything I do. The fact this happened made me feel very insignificant during later periods in my life such as high school when I realize ‘oh there are people smarter than me or people who could run faster than me’.”
When asked about what kind of topics would usually offend them, Min and Anwar stated racism. Ming said, “Fat shaming. When people are like ‘oh she has to be all this to be popular’ – the benchmark of how all girls should look, then I’ll get a bit offended because I’m more on the bigger side.” Sherilyn said, “Injustice and unfairness, for example animal abuse or racism.”