Why “OK Boomer” does more harm than good

The phrase “OK Boomer” gained popularity in early 2019 when people my age (Generation Z) decided they were fed up with a number of issues, including financial insecurity and global warming, that many people have attributed to Boomers. Thanks to a series of memes, viral Tik Toks, a widely shared song, and merchandise created by a college student featuring the phrase, “OK boomer. Have a terrible day,” the phrase was officially part of the cultural zeitgeist. 

But while it’s true that some political ideas shared by many Boomers are outdated — and that Gen Z is right to protest rising inequality, increasingly unaffordable college education, and climate change — saying “OK Boomer” perpetuates the harms it seeks to redress. It makes an entire generation into a monolith; it assumes that all Boomers are older, white, cisgender men who have used their power for evil, when in fact Boomers come from all backgrounds and are crucial to include in our effort to make the world a better place. 

For context, the term “Boomers” or “Baby Boomers” refers to the generation born between 1946 and 1964, which encompasses the spike of births that occurred when World War II ended. The post-war era was marked by a high point in the U.S. economy and the political high of America becoming a global superpower. 

Boomers came of age during a time when women — disproportionately white, privileged women — pushed back on the idea that their only purpose in life was to rear children and be housewives and began to form the Second Wave feminist movement. The Civil Rights movement also emerged in the 1960s, and the 1970s were defined by a prominent counterculture concerning resistance to the Vietnam War. 

But using “Boomer” as an insult against older people doesn’t recognize any of this. In fact, “Boomer” is now used interchangeably with “outdated” or “narrow-minded.” And in doing so, people my age dismiss an entire generation of people. There are Boomers who have contributed to climate change and financial inequality, but there are also Boomers without whom we wouldn’t have many of the rights so many of us enjoy today. There are Boomers who marched for civil rights, and women’s rights, who have fought racism, and sexism, and challenged heteronormativity. 

In fact, simply attributing these issues to one supposedly “bad” generation makes a more nuanced and complex critique of the policies and attitudes we attribute to this generation impossible. Critical race theory (CRT) posits that our society is structurally ill-equipped to redress certain types of wrong. CRT argues that marginalized groups are only served when their needs intersect with the needs and interests of white people. It asserts that counter-storytelling, or the practice of offering narratives that are different than the dominant ones, is not only a literary strategy, but a political commitment to emphasizing the experiences of those who are racially marginalized. 

Structural discrimination doesn’t still exist just because racist and sexist Boomers are still alive, and it won’t end when they’re gone. If we are committed to addressing such harmful political problems such as global warming and economic inequality, we have to recognize that these issues are institutional and that as such our activism must be intergenerational. We must fight collectively for justice and equality.