The Young and The Feckless

The Young and The Feckless: The Nearness of Youthful Nostalgia

Social Commentary post by J Maureen Henderson on May 12, 2010 - 9:42am; tagged a-ha, beatles, care bears, diablo cody, generation y, glee, Juno, karate kid, law and order, madonna, movies, nightmare on elm street, nostalgia, pop culture, pop up video, rainbow brite, reruns, rolling stones wkrp in cincinatti, strawberry shortcake, sweet valley, the simpsons, The Young and The Feckless, thunder cats, transformers, tv.

The other night, I found myself sitting in a concert hall with a thousand other people having an absolutely A+ time at one of the few North American dates on the farewell tour for Euro pop icons a-ha. Yes, a-ha. No matter that I'm not old enough to have fully appreciated their short-lived American heyday (although they've never ceased to be a presence on the other side of the Atlantic) in the mid-80s. I learned about them via the Pop-up Video treatment ( I'm sure there are even readers who are too young to appreciate that show) of "Take on Me" and more seriously, their concert participation in Live 8.

Photo by Whistling in the Dark

As I sang along with "The Living Daylights" and "The Sun Always Shines on TV," I started thinking about nostalgia. Specifically, Gen Y's relationship to nostalgia. I can't be the only one to see that the proximity of what counts as bygone days has been increasing dramatically in recent years.

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The Young and The Feckless: Gen Y's Biological Clock Talk Taboo

Social Commentary post by J Maureen Henderson on May 10, 2010 - 9:56am; tagged career, children, feminism, generation y, Hugh Hefner, ladymags, Larry King, millennials, motherhood, Nancy Friday, Oprah, pregnancy, reproductive health, Sylivia Ann Hewlett, the Pill, The Young and The Feckless.

I've hesitated about tackling this particular topic, but with the recent proximity of Mother's Day and the 50th anniversary of The Pill, I figured there was never going to be a better time to address it. My hesitation stems from a reluctance to drag biology into the equation and to bring up some unpleasant home truths that can't be advocated or educated away.