Gender roles, nostalgia, e-commerce, and smartphones—this round up couldn’t get more Millennial if it tried. We’re bring you the latest in Gen Y news to understand what this generation is saying, watching, buying, and why.
1. Feminism is the Word on the Street
Yesterday’s post on The Feminism Debate zoomed in on young pop stars and their own interpretations of feminism, but don’t miss the vagina pride and shock-and-awe feminism that has taken over in a more niche art world. Petra Collins, a 20-year-old photographer, made waves of controversy with her “Menstrual Masterbation” t-shirt for American Apparel and brought female sexuality to the forefront with a curated art exhibition called Gynolandscape earlier this fall. Collins, along with friends Tavi Gevinson and Karley Slutever, have growing fan bases across art, music, and indie mags, and represent a new subset of outspoken young feminists.
2. Blog Posts Just Killed ’90s Nostalgia
Networks like Disney and MTV are recognizing Plurals’ shift to the small screen, and one 22-year-old Millennial was making the dreams of the entire generation’s small screen dreams come true with streaming website Nick Reboot, until yesterday. The site, running for two years, was a 24/7 stream of ’90s Nickelodeon content with the best of the best: Clarissa Explains it All, Hey Arnold, Legends of the Hidden Temple, even with ’90s era commercials. But due to a surge in PR this week with coverage by Huffington Post and Entertainment Weekly, the site was shutdown to protect its owner from possible backlash from Viacom. We’re expecting a Change.org petition to Viacom on this one, now that Millennials everywhere are aware of what they’re missing.
3. A Way to Buy Differently
Specialty magazines are flipping their focus from print to digital by fully integrating e-commerce functions, so don’t miss The Grommet, a curated product launch platform that lets consumers shop items, “grommets,” directly from their digital catalog. The products they feature “must have rich stories to share (often full of blood, sweat and tears)” which is an aspect that Millennials both seek out and admire in their purchases.
4. High-End Camera Market Shudders
In our update on the smartphone wars, we mentioned Nokia Lumia’s growing appeal among Millennials for the quality of its camera, so don’t miss the latest from the WSJ that reports top brands Canon and Nikon, who specialize in professional DSLR cameras, are expected to see sales numbers fall 9.1% this year. Many in the premium camera industry won’t admit that smartphones are to blame, claiming “Taking photos with smartphones and editing them with apps is like cooking with cheap ingredients and a lot of artificial flavoring.” But Millennials, savvy with apps and cooking on a budget, think otherwise.
5. Links We’re Passing
Declared by Jezebel as “The Best Thing You’ll See All Week,” this video of a 5-year-old drum major is just too cute to be true. After showing an interest in marching bands at such a young age, Taranza’s parents and his future high school encouraged him to show off his talent by performing with his older band mates. Plurals are clearly in it to win it.
