Swamp Princesses and Bridget Jones Eras
"this was the most boring, dumbest f*cking sh*t"
Doechii is now a Grammy award-winning swamp princess; Dua Lipa is the face of Chanel’s newest handbag (an on-trend hobo, if you’re curious); Reese Witherspoon is currently watching audition tapes for teen Elle Woods for “Legally Blonde” prequel series; and men will literally do anything but release an album.
STRIDING OUT WITH THE NEW BREED OF GEN-Z WALKING GROUPS, ft
The Covid-era trend continues: Gen Z and millennial walking groups have transformed hiking into a highly social, community-driven activity, fueled by platforms like TikTok, a desire for IRL connection, and a growing sober-curious movement. Overground, founded in 2023, now gathers up to 500 hikers, while Dykes Who Hike, launched in 2024, saw attendance surge from 60 to 250 participants within two events. (This reminds me: Last week, Eventbrite released some research on Gen Z and millennials’ desire for meaningful physical community; they found that 95% of young people are interested in exploring their online interests through in-person events.)
AMERICAN KIDS ARE GETTING EVEN WORSE AT READING, wsj
New national test scores reveal a continued decline in American students' reading skills, with 67% of eighth-graders and 60% of fourth-graders scoring at a basic or better reading level, the lowest results since testing began in 1992. “This is not just a pandemic story. Our nation is facing complex challenges in reading,” said Peggy Carr, an Education Department official. Many educators have shifted toward the “science of reading” approach, emphasizing phonics over “using context to deduce the meaning of words,” which seems…not great?
REBECCA YARROS’S ‘ONYX STORM’ IS THE FASTEST-SELLING ADULT NOVEL IN 20 YEARS, nyt
So they can’t read most things but at least they can read something? Rebecca Yarros’s new novel — the third installment in her romantasy Empyrean series released late last month — shattered records, selling 2.7 million copies in its first week. The trilogy has now surpassed 12 million copies sold in the U.S. Yarros’s young fans turn out for midnight release parties, dressed up in elaborate costumes, something booksellers say they haven’t since the days of “Harry Potter” and “Twilight.” Hype aside, reviews appear mixed.
RETURN OF BRIDGET JONES TAPS INTO 90S TREND AS GEN Z LOOKS TO ‘SIMPLER’ TIME, theguardian
Will Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy manage to be a hit among young viewers when it hits theaters later this month? It sure seems that way. Helen Fielding said recently that at her book signings “half the audience are Gen Zs.” “I’m really happy when 18-year-olds and 20-year-olds talk to me about it and say that they find it comforting to laugh at these things,” she added. Not only does the series — the first of which was published in 1996 — tap into ‘90s nostalgia, but the messy charm of the main character appeals to Gen Z women.
WHY GEN Z ARE SAYING NO TO BOTOX, thetimes
Whereas previous generations embraced injectables (they came of age in the Kardashian era, after all!), Gen Z is supposedly prioritizing what derms call “prejuvenation,” a proactive approach that includes SPF, peptides, and collagen-boosting therapies. “We’re seeing a significant shift in aesthetic medicine,” says Dr. Joney De Souza, who notes that his younger clients are “moving away from Botox in favour of solid skincare and regenerative treatments.” (This does not mean young people are embracing wrinkles: According to Circana, 70% of Gen Z already use anti-ageing serums.)
One last thought:
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"Science of reading" = reading with phonics, which is a much better way to learn to read than the other approaches which rely on context clues - ex. using the pictures in the book to help figure out what the word is, as opposed to actually sounding it out.
Most kids don't need to be taught how to read...they just learn on their own. For those that do need to be taught (whether dyslexic or not), they are much better off with the phonics approach.
One of the challenges is that when kids don't learn how to sound out words at a relatively young age (say before 3rd-5th grade), it becomes much harder for them to do all other schoolwork and then raises the chance of them dropping out or failing out of school.
the froyo outings 🥲