Purpose in postmodernism?

Updated and cao Feb 18 2021

In 2017, my millennial coworker had me a little mentally twisted. Let me prove some context…

I’ve noticed various social topics from religion, gender, sexuality, etcetera play out in the media. Normally I don’t give it too many mental cycles because as a mother of 4 including a set of twins, I do have my hands full.

Look, as a true GenXer I’m all about being “responsible”, thinking about topics such as

• making sure the kids are taken care of
• schooling options for the kids
• paying for clothes and shoes for growing kids
• rubbing together two nickels for a family vacation
• handling parents in retirement

Yet, I somehow managed to commit a “stray” mental cycle to this one topic…

Why don’t the millennials want to commit to anything?

Of course I do not believe all millennials are non committal, but I was curious nonetheless. I simply cannot identify with this phenomena and needed to know.

It’s around 930am, I’m sipping water because I cut out coffee in my quest to lose vanity pounds before summer. Breakfast was 2 boiled eggs and a slice of toast. What I really wanted was a Big N’ Toasted breakfast sandwich from Dunkin Donuts or Some Chick-n-Minis from Chick-Fil-A. This is the start of my day, coveting breakfast options I can’t enjoy. Less than a week in on my coffee hiatus, I’m sporting a low grade caffeine withdrawal headache, and I am already thinking about my lunch time 1/2 sweet potato and salad option. I think I’ve painted the picture already, no?

Sufficiently cranky from a lack of caffeine and yummy food, inexplicably I asked my coworker,

“Are you familiar with post modernism?”

If you don’t know what it is, take a look at this little graphic I found…

I struggled with this because….I’m not sure I have a handle on it. First, I’ve tried understanding how it’s defined. I took my time and looked on the web and found many instantiations of the same definition. Unfortunately these definitions were not easily understood. If I’m being honest, I felt as though the cited definitions were nothing more than someone trying to pontificate. What I surmise is

• nothing is concrete
• commitment to nothing
• right and wrong appears to be challenged daily
• facts are no longer facts.

Who would have thought the term “alternative facts” would hold a place in our culture?

Many no longer want boundaries, firm lines, or anything deemed reliable. People simply want to do what they want to do with no consequence. I’m not so sure if there is even true purpose anymore.

Okay, back to my weird moment. I’ve just asked,

“Are you familiar with post modernism?”

I promise you it just rolled off my tongue. It just did. The interesting thing is my millennial coworker turned around and said “why of course I am”.

Like wow. Just like that. Almost as if I had just asked the dumbest question. It was cool though because this particular coworker is one of those who reads everything, supports many charities, and has a slew of social belief buttons hanging in the cubicle space. Very open about everything.

Where do I go from here? Clearly I have gone “rogue” this day and opened Pandora’s box. The ball is in my court and the cat has most certainly gotten my tongue.

I have to say something. Anything.

“Why is it the millennials have difficulty committing?”

I’m not even sure why I would choose to engage in this sort of water cooler discussion in a place where we work with a high number of older (and I do mean ollllllllllderrrrrr engineers). The significance of the age difference is due to the extremely high number of older coworkers in their 60s and 70s who outnumber most of us. Yes, I cannot make this up. Many of them are on their second and third retirement and will not stop working. I swear there has been a mind meld because they seem to own the same pair of khakis, burp and pass gas, and sport the same yucky coffee cup. This is of course a separate discussion for another blog.

Alright back to the question, “Why is it the millennials have difficulty committing?”

My coworker laughed at me. That was the response I get? Apparently I am an undiscovered comedian. My coworker finally says something along the lines of, “I just had this conversation with some friends of mine and my roommate recently. We are growing up in an age where our parents are getting divorced late in life, suddenly becoming homosexuals, and possibly changing gender. We want to make the right decision the first time.”

There it is.

Now we are going back and forth on why I am finding it difficult to process this notion across several areas. The millennial representative I was having this conversation with told me they don’t feel the need to identify with a sex, gender, religion, or whatever. It is all about self identification. Many believe they should be able to self identify by any means necessary.

Where my angst lies is when facts are denied. I shared my concerns with my coworker regarding how I believe if I share my views then I am automatically painted as someone who is not accepting of others.

Gender Identity. For example, gender identify baffles me. How does one deny the genetic code of being a particular gender? Of course you can change whatever you want on your body but your genetics (facts) say you are who you are. Now, do understand I recognize another conversation is at play here because of course the concept of gender is at play… because post modernists believe there is a difference between sex and gender. Thus, if you want to change the physicality of your gender than so be it.

At the end of the day, you will always be who you are. I was schooled on the differences between transgender vs body dysmorphia. Postmodernists contend you can still be a different gender, or even a different being. I spoke with other millennial coworkers who schooled me on the 70 something different genders.

It doesn’t matter if you are not genetically something, you can actually claim you are a Foxkin. Seriously?

Anyway, I guess I don’t care enough about what people do behind closed doors…I just dont understand the redefinition. Please forgive me folks as I try to get a handle on all these changes at once.

Sexuality is fluid. There was a Wendy Williams Hot Topics episode with Kiki Palmer and she mentioned identifying with whoever is showing her love first. Depending on which way she is feeling, that determines her sexual orientation. So if you are born a boy, change physically into a girl, then claim to like boys, to me I still believe you are homosexual. You are genetically a boy who is interested in boys. My coworker told me that I am wrong because the boy who is now a girl identifies as a girl. I believe that factually, this transgender person is still a boy but may have psychological reasons for identifying as a girl. Nevertheless, today you can claim to be whatever you want.

I’m still processing…

Race is fluid. You know I’m obligated by my own consciousness to mention Rachel Dolezal.

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As a woman of the misplaced African Diaspora, (basically a regular ole black woman born and raised here in the USA), you can now claim to be whomever you want. So I found this Rachel person quite interesting because she is genetically white but decided she was a black woman. Of course, her racial identity should not matter… I’m just confused as to why she would claim to be black at all. Trust me, we are not associated with any forms of privilege here. In fact, we are generally looked at with tons of disdain… unless you are a rapper, singer, athlete…. or Oprah.

I can go on about this topic. I’m just trying to get to the point where I understand purpose in all of this. I mean I get it, people want to self identify how they please. What I don’t get is the denial of facts. Be who you are. I am just trying to get a handle on this new notion about identity and why it is even more important today.

This blog probably won’t age well but I am speaking from my truth…

Originally posted 2017–02–20 09:58:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter