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The Most Overlooked, Underestimated, and Burnt-Out Generation of Women Ever
Let’s be honest: Gen X moms weren’t just raising kids—we were managing households, trying to climb broken corporate ladders, and holding together a culture that demanded perfection and gave zero support.
We are the in-between generation.
Raised analog, working digital.
Old enough to remember a world before email...
Young enough to be expected to adapt to every new platform, ping, and pivot without skipping a beat.
We learned to type on IBM Selectrics.
Sent emails on Netscape Navigator.
Then rode out every new “game-changer” from AOL Instant Messenger to Zoom.
The tools changed every few years. The expectations never did.
We remember when phones had cords—and you had to actually be home to answer them.
Now we’re expected to be reachable 24/7: email, Slack, text, calendar alerts, and some app our kids probably installed without telling us.
📺 We Grew Up on Grit
Born between 1965 and 1980, Gen X was raised on latchkey afternoons, solo TV dinners, and “figure it out” independence.
We weren’t over-parented—we were barely parented.
Our generation invented the art of reheating spaghetti in a Tupperware container while watching Solid Gold, 3-2-1 Contact, & Saved by the Bell reruns.
We walked home from school alone.
We called friends from the kitchen wall phone.
We knew how to entertain ourselves without a tablet in sight.
Then we became mothers. And the expectations flipped:
- Be everywhere.
- Do everything.
- Look good doing it.
You weren’t just expected to show up to the soccer game—you were expected to bring homemade snacks, custom photo banners, and a signup sheet for the end-of-season party.
We were told we could “have it all.”
They just forgot to mention we’d have to do it all, too.
💼 The Career Catch-22
When we entered the workforce, we were told to “lean in.”
Problem was, the ladder we were leaning on was cracked—and the rungs disappeared the minute we had kids.
In our 20s:
“You’re too green. Not enough experience.”
“Don’t get too comfy—she might go on maternity leave.”
In our 30s:
“She’s distracted. Kids at home. Can’t take on big projects.”
“She’s great… but not ready for leadership.”
In our 40s:
“Big resume gap. She’s been out too long.”
“She doesn’t know the latest tools.”
“She might not adapt fast enough.”
We did the job and the work of parenting.
Often invisibly. Often unpaid. Often unthanked.
We kept families functioning, classrooms running, and communities together.
And somehow, despite it all—we were always not quite right for the next opportunity.
📊 Reality Check (With Receipts)
- 43% of highly qualified women with children voluntarily leave the workforce at some point
Source: Harvard Business Review - Only 74% of women who try to return to work after a career break actually get hired—often at lower pay or lower status
Source: Harvard Business Review - Gen X women are less likely than Millennials to hold executive leadership positions—despite having more experience
Source: McKinsey & LeanIn.org, 2023
🎯 The Real Kicker
We were never the right age.
Never in the right season.
Never what the system wanted at the moment it needed us most.
“Too young, then too distracted. Now too old. Gen X moms have spent their careers being ‘not quite right’ for the role—no matter the role.”
And while the rest of the world was busy debating Boomers vs. Millennials,
Gen X was left out of the generation wars entirely.
Maybe that’s a good thing.
We didn’t have time to fight online—we were too busy figuring everything out offline.
Younger meant risky.
Motherhood meant unreliable.
Experience now reads as “expensive” or “overqualified.”
Meanwhile, our male peers aged into leadership.
We aged into “you’ve been out of the game too long.”
🚨 But Here’s the Truth:
We’re not done.
We’re not irrelevant.
We’re not out of touch.
We’re ready—maybe more than ever.
We’ve got the wisdom. The work ethic. The war stories.
We’ve managed chaos without praise.
Led without a title.
Shown up when no one clapped.
And no—we’re not asking for a handout.
We’re just asking for a fair shot to bring everything we’ve learned back to the table.
So to the companies rethinking what leadership looks like:
We’re right here.
We’re ready.
And we’re not waiting for permission anymore.
