Let's apply that to generations in the United States.
@PowerQuest -- I see you are in Denmark. Western European men have definitely weakened over time. European men have weakened so much that European men have become completely cucked. The United States isn't much better than Europe. I have been unimpressed at how weak Western European men have become.
The GI Generation (1910s-first half of 1920s births) dealt with The Great Depression and World War II during their formative years. The men of the late 1910s/early 1920s fought in World War II. They were also key in creating the post World War II good times.
The Silent Generation (late 1920s-1945 births) was a mixed outcome generation. A good portion of the generation was old enough to remember The Great Depression and World War II, though they weren't fighting in them. The latter part of the generation (1937-1945) was the first to take advantage of the good times of 1950s/1960s since they were the youngest adults in a large part of that time. The birth control pill was invented in 1960 and Silent Generation women were using it before the oldest Baby Boomer women could use it. In the media, many of the characters on Mad Men were decent fictional representations of The Silent Generation. Don Draper (born 1926) would have been borderline GI/Silent. Joan Holloway (born 1931) and Peter Campbell (born 1934) are more classic Silents, especially Peter Campbell. Peggy Olson (born 1939) is a Silent who is a groundbreaking early career woman. Her type would be more commonly seen in the Baby Boomer generation. The Silents were stronger but weakening. The Silent Generation was the first generation to get no fault divorce. The 1970s divorces were mainly Silent Generation members with their young Gen X children.
The Baby Boomers (1946-1964 births) were raised in the prosperity of post World War II era. The Boomers would have been the classic good times create weak men generation. Some later Boomers graduated into the economic malaise of the late 1970s but those Boomers had it better than the Millennials who were graduating into the late 2000s economic mess. The Boomers were the first big generation to divorce and their divorces mainly happened between 1985-2002, affecting their Millennial children during the 1990s. It was the Boomers' idea to start "Participation Trophies" and "Self-Esteem Building" building into 1990s parenting and schooling of their 1980s born Millennial children. The Boomers were raised by tough GI generation parents who often didn't care about their self-esteem so that was the intention behind why they did what they did.
Generation X (1965-1981 births) is a neglected generation. They often were the children of the smaller Silent Generation, as birth rates were lower in the 1930s due to The Great Depression. Additionally, the late 1960s-early 1980s had a lot of economic turmoil, including OPEC gas crises, inflation, stagflation, recessions, etc. HIV/AIDS came up in the 1980s affecting teen/young adult Gen X'ers. Some even graduated into the early 1990s recession, also a walk in the park compared to 2008. Gen X were the latchkey children of divorcee Silents. I'd call Gen X a weak generation but still stronger than subsequent generations.
The Millennials (1982-1996 births) are the classic weak men create hard times generation. The oldest Millennials remember the economic boom years of the 1990s that were mainly created upon an unsustainable house of cards. The Millennials born in the 1980s who remember the "good times" of the 1990s felt like they were sold a bill of goods. Their Boomer parents got to experience good times as adults but they didn't. 9/11 happened as the oldest Millennials were ending high school and going to college. Many of the first half of Millennials finished their highest level of educational attainment at The Great Recession was hitting in the late 2000s and continued into the early 2010s. COVID's economic impact also affected Millennials to a great degree. Millennials are a bit of a lost generation due to the hard times wiping out their early adulthood years.
I don't think Gen Z (1997-2012 births) is going to be a hard times create strong men generation. I see them fitting the mold of their Silent Generation grandparents as applied to current times.
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