Talking about Generations

I want to talk about Self Esteem and how it changes, between generations, according to our life experiences. My generation (the Baby Boomers) didn’t grow up thinking we were “hot stuff.”

During our childhood, Brazil was going through a tough dictatorship. This did not help our Self Esteem. Brazil was not a BRIC at that time. We were only known for our soccer, our Carnival, and our women, especially our “mulatas”

It felt terrible when people referred to Brazil only as a place for sex. They couldn’t even name our major cities. Even today, a lot of people still think our capital is Buenos Aires!

I believe that there is a deeper root to all of this, which transpires in our language and our history. For instance, the word “Brazilian” in Portuguese is “Brasileiro.” The suffix “eiro” usually refers to a profession and not a nationality. For example, “carpenters” are called “Carpinteiro” or “Marceneiro.”

Interestingly, other nationalities in the Portuguese language clearly depict a people. “Frances” (the French) and “Ingles,” (The English), carry suffixes that relate to their national identity and not their profession.

I ask myself why is this?

When the Portuguese colonized Brazil, they didn’t want us to feel strong. They didn’t want the rebellion, which inevitably comes with strength.

The Portuguese thought that Brazilians were lazy and indolent. They would use the word “mamelucos” (which is originally an Arab word, to designate the sons of enemies), as a prejudiced term for those of mixed race.

Nothing in Brazil’s history of colonization suggests that the Portuguese wanted to colonize us. They just wanted to exploit Brazil, sucking out everything that was of worth to them.

Therefore Brazilians did not have high Self Esteem. We were different from Argentines, who were called arrogant. In fact, Argentines have a high Self Esteem because of their colonization.

So, Brazil was ”nothing” as Baby Boomers were growing up. We weren’t particularly proud of Brazil.

For Generation Y, it’s a whole other story. It’s as if they know a different Brazil. Their Brazil is the center of attention, and the country of the future.

I grew up during the women’s movement. And yet, I remember that if I dated a lot of boys, I was called “sabonete” or “soap.” The idea being that I was getting passed from one boy’s hand to the next…

Girls weren’t supposed to date a lot of people. It just wasn’t considered a nice or proper thing to do. And of course, “hooking up” or “Ficar” as it’s called in Brazil, wasn’t even part of our vocabulary.

During our teenage years, the birth control pill appeared. Can you even imagine life before this? We grew up as revolutionaries of a sort. We broke down many paradigms. Divorce wasn’t normal. Yet, being single was unthinkable.

Today young people are growing up in a different context. This context makes all the difference.

When we raise our kids (generation Y), we want them to feel strong and happy. Intuitively we want them to have a higher Self Esteem than we ourselves have. We look for schools that are less strict than ours. We enroll our children in Foreign Languages, Theater, and Art.

With all these resources, it’s no wonder they have a higher Self Esteem than our generation!

The funny, thing is that all of this allows them to question us, even within our own household. As I already wrote, we allow everything in the household. But what do we allow in our businesses? In businesses, we don’ t let these “kids” to question everything.

I think that these issues can only be resolved if we dig up all the dirt which has already been swept under the rug. If these topics are discussed, different generations can be understood, and we can all come together. Barefoot.

Tags: Baby boomer, Generation, Generation Y, Youtube