What event defined your generation.

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104. Except that book came out long after (1991) the punk movement in the UK.

I remember the term "Generation X" originally being attributed to some reactionary UK politician. The context was a term of abuse directed at the punk movement in the UK. This would have been the mid-to-late-'70s. I guess they intended the "X" in "Gen X" to be a metaphor for a lack of ambition, social climbing, etc. And then Billy Idol and company turned it around by using it as a band name.

However, "Gen X" has been attributed to so many people that it's hard to know who the real progenitor is, especially because those who popularized the term probably deserve as much credit as those who created it. So Doug Copeland arguably deserves his share of the credit just like many others. Without the popularity, it would have remained on the fringes.

Then there are those who were really late to the party. I remember Time magazine ran a cover page article (complete with a snarling Eddie Vedder) about "those crazy Gen Xers and their angry music". Time was at least a year late when it came to their coverage of various movements, including the rise of "grunge" music and the Gen Xers coming of age. I think their silly title was "All the Rage".