Self-Help Has Gone Awry

There is much written about younger generations — Millennials and Gen Zs — being self-centered and fragile. What’s said less often is that we Gen Xers have set the tone for this excessive self-focus amongst this younger cohort. It’s on us. It’s our fault. We (and I mean women in particular here) were the first self-help generation. And in a fit of irony that has persisted, we said putting focus on ourselves was the selfless thing to do and had to be done. It was better for our children, in fact, if we practiced self-care. Or so we told ourselves. That whole put the oxygen mask on yourself before your children thing took hold — because of us.