| |
The perception of status – and consequently, levels of status anxiety – has changed over time. Indeed, contemporary youth seem more materialistic and status-driven than their Baby Boomer counterparts ever were. Gone are the simple days of free university education when teenagers aspired to careers in the trades or teaching. Status, with all its ambiguity of meaning, has come to be more important to the average Australian than it was 30 years ago. Consequently, it is no surprise that Gen Y appear to be more preoccupied with status and its attainment than the Baby Boomers were in their pre-adult years.
Furthermore, as various status symbols become available to many people, they cease to be seen as particularly prestigious and thus less attainable symbols become the new benchmark for success. Hence Gen Y, in all their material wealth, are climbing a social ladder that is advancing as fast as they are. In contemporary Australian society, Gen Y’s status anxiety has caused many social issues to arise. From a shortage of workers to severe emotional risk as a result of the isolation of our culture, the high-status trend has many repercussions for Australian society, and, consequently, on its culture. With Gen Y constantly seeking to have more money, to avoid “not being good enough”, society increasingly adopts the impersonalised features of a gesellschaft society.
|
|
