Lately, there’s been heightened conversation online about how millennials don’t look their age: How is it that “Bridgerton” star Nicola Coughlan is 37 but genuinely looks 19, the age of her character Penelope Featherington on the show?
How is it that people born in 1993 are now the same age as George Costanza in the first season of “Seinfeld” ― 31 ― while looking about a decade younger? (So sorry to throw you under the bus here, Jason Alexander, we love your work.)
What might be most interesting about the discourse is that a lot of it’s coming from Gen Z, the generation born right after millennials. Conversely, many Gen Z’ers say they feel like they’re aging like spoiled milk.
“We live in a time where millennials look way younger for their age while Gen Z looks way older for their age,” TikTok influencer Jordan Howlett, 27, said in a viral video from January with over 24.8 million views.
“I am Gen Z and nobody ever believes me,” Howlett said. “When my mom and I walk out in public, people think that my mom is my younger sister.” Howlett once asked The Rock for an autograph for himself only to have the actor assume “Jordan” was his son and sign the autograph, “Your dad is a great guy; he stood out here for hours.”
“Dude, Dwayne is 52, I am 26, what?” the influencer joked in the viral video.
Howlett points to work and economic hardships plaguing his generation as the culprit for premature aging.
While that might be, there’s a key element that’s missing from the conversation about the different experiences of aging among millennials (a group aged around 28 to 43 as of 2024) and Gen Z (a group that spans ages 12 to 27): Millennials, on the whole, were the first generation to embrace SPF and avoid smoking, while some in Gen Z are doing the opposite. (More on that later.)
“Millennials have definitely embraced the wisdom and mistakes from the generations before them,” said Dr. Anthony Rossi, a dermatologist, professor and…
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