The first time Robert Capa, an anti-war photojournalist (1913-1954), described the young people of the 1950s as “Generation X” in one of his photo collections. However, this term did not become popular until thirty years later, when a novel titled “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture” was published in the 1980s. The novel, written by Canadian Douglas Coupland, depicted the lifestyle of young people born in the 1960s in America. The term “Generation X” itself became enduring, paving the way for later sociological studies to categorize and typify post-20th century generations. After ninety days since the start of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, the news agency Hrana reported one hundred and forty-four universities as sites of protest gatherings, and six hundred and forty-six detained students, most of whom were around twenty years old. In this article, we will focus on

Age range of the generation.

There is no exact agreement on the age ranges of the Alpha, Z, Y, and X generations, but the majority define the Z generation as those born between 1997 AD (1376-1375) and 2010 (1389-1388). After the Z generation, we have the Alpha generation, which includes those born after 2010. Members of the Z generation are also referred to as “Zoomers,” a combination of “Boomers” and “Z.” “Boomer” is a term that refers to the Baby Boomer generation or “children of the population explosion,” born during the post-World War II population growth. After the Baby Boomers, the X generation comes, which includes those born in the second half of the 1960s to 1980. After that, we have the Y generation, whose members are born in the early 1980s to late 1990s. Most members of the Z generation or the

Internet generation.

The generation Z is also known as the internet generation. The members of this generation were born into a world where the internet was already prevalent. They have limited experiences with the sound of fax machines and dial-up modems when connecting to the internet at a maximum speed of 56 kilobits per second. Perhaps the start of the Z generation in each country can be considered the transition from dial-up modems to external IDSL modems, Wi-Fi, and high-speed internet access. These “digital natives” (another title for the Z generation) have their identity tied to the internet and the concept of global connectivity. They have the ability to measure all their surroundings, including human relationships, on a global scale. For example, they easily discovered that Iran is the only country in the world that enforces the hijab on its people with just a simple search, something that was much more difficult for previous generations.

Internet and potential life.

This generation has established its connection with the world through the internet. The members of this generation, who are the youth of all societies, even if they do not have direct friendships with other societies, at least through social networks that they always carry with them thanks to their smartphones, they become aware of the cultural details of other societies. They became aware of the potential life they could have much earlier than previous generations. Perhaps this is the reason why this generation cannot be burdened by mandatory veiling, because they know that such issues are not important in most Western societies! This is evident when one of the members of this generation travels to another city and encounters the morality police, whether they bow their head to the sidewalk or not, they become agitated shortly after the pressure. In simple terms, this generation, due to being connected to the world through the internet, does not succumb to bullying.

The gap between public and private matters.

Parents of Generation Z were from the generations of X and Y; generations that had to turn the satellite dish and buy slow internet credit cards to connect with the world. They felt the suppression of ideology with all their being. The X and Y generation tried to keep their children safe from their biological suppression as much as possible. As a result of this effort, which was accompanied by high-speed internet and smartphones, the private sphere of Generation Z became further away from its public sphere. Parents who were more liberal than previous generations, who are all members of social networks, followed Western cultural content more indirectly in many homes.

With the growth of the older generation of the Z generation (born in the second half of the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s) and the beginning of the 1990s, society was not even enjoying temporary freedoms and the fragile period of reforms. The turmoil in the public sphere continued to increase. From the second half of the 1990s, nationwide protest movements began to take an annual trend. During this time, the Z generation had reached adolescence and, due to its direct connection – albeit with the slow internet in Iran – with the world, it was increasingly influenced by Western culture; a culture that, by nature, did not have much room for protest, and there was not even a mention of rock and punk music of the 1980s and 1990s, and rap and hip-hop took the lead; styles of music that, in fact, represent more Western examples than Eastern ones in portraying a more daring eroticism and describing

Many members of this generation, due to the popularization of sexually provocative content in the field of art (often in the market) and its advancement towards a certain lifestyle, and on the other hand, due to their efforts to break down taboos (meaning the generation of wolves), do not consider sex as such a taboo and see it simply as a part of life. For this reason, some studies have claimed that the Z generation has less sexual curiosity and even has less sex compared to the generation of wolves. Another study even reported that the Z generation has shown less inclination towards alcohol use and is more interested in psychological and “hiking” activities rather than getting drunk.

Entering the public space.

The advanced generation of Z generation had to leave their homes to enter university and the workforce and coexist with the three domains of “free internal space, oppressive public space, and the internet and global communication”. This is where the “problem” began. The content that was displayed during the “gathering of hundreds of people in the 1980s in the Koroush Complex in Tehran” and was reproduced in the early years of this year with the “water games of the 1980s and 1990s on Chamran Boulevard in Shiraz in 1401”, now faced the space of professional and bureaucratic talks of the country. A generation that was subjected to less violence in school than previous generations and in many cases even survived the grading system and the hundred-point cards, complicated the work for the overbearing rulers by being present in the oppressive public space.

Protests and the position of the new generation.

The tragic story of the death of a police officer of the Islamic Republic and Mahsa (Jina) Amini is a clear example of the conflict between public and private interests of the opposing classes of the current government of Iran, which was first raised by one of the members of the new generation of Iran. The new generation wanted to quickly bring the struggle for the freedom of the new generation of Iran. The new generation quickly realized that their abstract ideas for a free life were joined by the presence of the new generation in the public sphere; this was not only followed by Jina’s peers, but also by several generations of wounded individuals from previous oppression and deprivation, to form a revolutionary movement; a movement to bring public and private interests closer together.