The ‘normcore’ generation is here!

Lenin Ndebele
THERE is a weird dress sense among today’s youth. It’s called “normcore” — combining the words “normal” and “hardcore”. It aptly means “trying to have a style that’s not having a style” and come to think of it, everything to do with the youth, be it political, economic and cultural vexes older generations.

This age group has come to be known as Generation Z, generally defined with birth years ranging from the mid or late 1990s through the 2010s or from the early 2000s.

If not absorbed in global popular culture, their local music heroes are Winky D, Tocky Vibes and Jah Prayzah to mention a few, they turn society upside down with Vuzu Parties. Churches complain and so does the political leadership about this generation’s “wayward” tendencies.

They come from an era where Zimbabwe has made tertiary education more accessible with more universities and colleges opened. This group is not necessarily dumb, it is spoilt with information at fingertips.

Research is just a smartphone away, in fact, they can prepare for a job interview while they are next in line! They don’t remember the world before the internet.

Since the beginning of time, older generations always wonder if their successors are cut out of the real world. To borrow from a one-hit wonder by Ziggy Marley “Tomorrow People” (1988) the youth have never been a trusted lot. It’s a genetic stereotype.

“Tomorrow people, where is your past? Tomorrow people, how long will you last? Ten years, Tomorrow people, where is your past?”

On the political front, with elections around the corner in 2018, serious political parties should start incorporating this generation. Most of them are children of late Generation Xs and Generation Ys.

To drive the point closer to home, they are grandchildren of people who experienced the war of independence. Their parents could be children of war veterans.

Calling them “born frees” won’t help the political cause. It somewhat sounds like an insult. Let’s be nice to them because they grow up fast and we want them to be part of our vision for the nation instead of them getting rid of us.

Scholars describe them as “edgier” than their predecessors — the millennials also known as Generation Y.

Unlike their grandfathers, they were not disturbed from going to school by the liberation war. Instead, they are faced with their own problems such as the economic recession, El Nino, unemployment and even the speed of the internet! — these are serious concerns and they can earn you a vote.

What politicians should clearly note is that Generation Z as young and fast-paced as they are, still look to Generation Y — those born between 1980-1990 for guidance.

Thus the voting patterns of Generation Z could take a similar trend as those of Generation Y.

Their struggle is articulated in the music they listen to. For one, Winky D’s latest hit, Problems (disappear) talks about circumstances the youth would wish to overcome.

Therefore, the two generations combined could be the hotbed of the critical vote because they are the most economically and socially conscious lot of the voting public and probably are the majority since there is a lot of voter registration being talked about.