The Woman’s Owncolumnist has her say on Gen Z, sandwiches and weddings
AN AGEING GENERATION
They might be younger than us, but they won’t look it in years to come
Getting older used to be something we just did. Not great, but we lived with it because the alternative wasn’t too hot. Now, not only is it a word soup of marketing catchphrases and random letters, it’s all gone topsy-turvy to boot.
Thankfully, my generation doesn’t have a fancy letter assigned to us – we’re straightforward baby boomers. After us lot though, come Alpha, Beta and Generations X, Y and Z. Why those letters? Who knows? Probably just designed to confuse us much-derided boomers even more than we are by the newfangled world.
But a weird thing is happening. Because, for probably the first time in history, the younger generations are looking older. And even weirder is it’s all because they want to look ‘better’.
Indeed, Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – are ageing ‘worse’ than Gen Y (1981-1996, also called millennials), according to those who specialise in aesthetic cosmetic treatments.
As the eldest members of Generation Y approach their mid-40s many people on social media have been baffled by how the group is ageing much more slowly than those after them. Think a fresh-faced Holly Willoughby, 42, compared to any of the random 22-year-olds gracing programmes like Love Island or the likes of 26-year-old Kylie Jenner.
Indeed, this is such a burning question in January 2024 that it’s racked up more than 20 million views on TikTok. So, what’s going on?
According to those involved in the cosmetic surgery industry it’s simple. Gen Y/millennials learnt from the mistakes of Gen X (1965-1980) and us boomers. They didn’t smoke as much; they ate healthily and didn’t slather themselves in coconut oil to lay out in the sun all day. They also exercised and were more of aware of mental health issues.
Rather than adding to that personal care knowledge, though, Gen Z worshipped at the altar of Instagram reality and ‘tweakments’ to try to conform to some stereotypical idea of youth and beauty.
‘It’s not uncommon to see 18-year-olds with lip filler,’ Ross Perry, medical director of Cosmedics Skin Clinics, says. ‘Twenty-year-olds are having Botox and fillers, semi-permanent make-up on their eyebrows and lips, all of which combined can make you appear older.’
Vaping is another factor as well as tans coming back into fashion.
The jury’s
