This has got to be the own goal of the year. Millennials want people to stop calling them ‘snowflakes’ because it is an unfair term of abuse that damages their mental health. Get your head round that if you can. In response to the accusation that they’re soft, oversensitive and too easily wounded by words and ideas, young adults are effectively saying: ‘No we aren’t. And if you keep saying we are, we will be plunged into mental despair.’ There aren’t enough faces and palms in the world to express the exasperation such a self-defeating defence deserves.
This epic self-own was uncovered in research by Aviva. It surveyed 2,022 Brits aged between 16 and 24 and found that three quarters of them think the snowflake jibe is ‘unfair’. They also said that hearing this jibe might ‘negatively affect their mental health’. Which proves it is not unfair! Their very discomfort with the snowflake label demonstrates why the snowflake label feels so apt.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in