Image via Gemma Correll
What’s it really like to be a twentysomething today? Millennial artists are giving a glimpse at their generation’s experiences.
Millennials are constantly being analyzed and, let’s face it, judged quite a bit for their behavior—which can sometimes take attention away from what the experiences of a young person really are.
Last week we told you that some self-aware Millennial artists are creatively taking on social commentary. One of them, Millennial British illustrator Gemma Correll, has been getting attention for her social media posts, and this weekend one of those illustrations began to go viral for providing a slice of Millennials’ perspective. Titled “Why Is Your Millennial Crying?,” the comic-style drawing lampoons some of the reasons that Millennials are made fun of, like tattoos, getting a trophy for everything, and taking selfies. But the artist notes in her post to “Read the whole thing before you get offended.” The second to last frame lists some of the bigger issues plaguing the generation, like “crushing student loan debts, high unemployment, unpaid internships, the realization that they may never own their own home, depression.” The Tumblr post has made headlines, and received over 15,000 notes in three days.
Correll isn’t the only young artist giving a glimpse at their generation’s experiences—from their food obsessions to their nights on the couch with ramen and $2 wine. Here are two more Millennials drawing on their lives as twentysomethings and providing a lighthearted take on their everyday struggles:
QUARTER LIFE POETRY
Instagram account Quarter Life Poetry by 25-year-old Samantha Jayne humorously illustrates the daily struggles of post-college corporate jobs, bills, Tinder affairs, and more with short poems and children’s book-like illustrations. Her illustrations deal with sillier issues like roommates stealing food, and FOMO, as well as more serious concerns like student debt and being stuck between being young and old. One panel hints at the insecurities of a generation choosing to delay major milestone but sill comparing themselves to their parents, with the poem beginning: “When my mom was twenty-five she was married with a kid me.” The artist creates her posts to help her peers make light of their struggles, and wants to “reassure Millennials, not mock them.”
BOOKS OF ADAM
As Huffington Post put it, “Adam Ellis gets it. Being a Millennials is hard.” Ellis pens Books of Adam cartoons and contributes to BuzzFeed’s BFF content. His comics, many animated GIFs, play on Millennials fears and their nostalgia. One panel focuses on the “struggle” of playing your Gameboy in the car as a kid—something the next generation will never understand. Other posts make light of his generation’s love of bad weather that allows them to stay inside, or eating “healthy” salads covered in cheese. One illustration from this February compares the games Millennials played as a kid versus those they play as adults, exposing their drunk dialing and germaphobic tendencies—as well as their craving for being carefree again.
