Doesn't "Zoomer" already sound so dated? Like a trivia question from 2066? It reminds me of history books where they would cite the popular political campaign "Tippy Canoe and Tyler Too!" and you're forced to reckon with the fact that everything you think is cool will one day soon be quite the opposite.
Which is what Millennials are dealing with now. Millennials are no longer the cool kids. Why is this hitting so hard?
I have a theory.
In previous generations, loss of the cultural capital of cool was offset by increased material status elsewhere: financial solvency, career security, home ownership. The identity of "young and relevant" was exchanged for "wealthy, wise parent" and that was a promotion, not a loss.
But as the first generation that has backslid economically (through, truly, no fault of our own) a plurality of Millennials are not making this exchange. They are exchanging being young trendsetters for being culturally irrelevant, financially, impoverished and forced to navigate an increasingly unsettled world. And to add insult to injury, they're playing Sigur Ros in the grocery stores!
The consolation is that when you stop chasing cool, you can engage with whats real. What you really love, what you really want, who you really are. I can exchange the cool for the real, easily.