I was thinking about…

The Unfiltered Generation: Embracing Raw Authenticity

by Andy Lee

Growing up as part of Gen X, we learned early that life doesn’t come with a filter. The world we navigated as kids and teens wasn’t softened by political correctness or padded with participation trophies. We didn’t have safety nets like today’s hyper-connected, hypersensitive culture seems to provide at every turn. No, we grew up in an era where people said what they meant. They meant what they said, often with a bluntness that might cause today’s youth to clutch their pearls.

As latchkey kids, we were often left to our own devices—literally and figuratively. Our parents were busy grinding away in the workforce. They didn’t hover over us like helicopters or track our every move with a GPS app. We learned to fend for ourselves, speak our minds, and most importantly, not to take everything so personally. That’s just the way it was. If someone insulted you, you threw it right back. No hurt feelings, no safe spaces, just the raw, unfiltered reality.

Back then, sensitivity wasn’t the norm, it was a weakness. Sure, sometimes it was harsh, but that’s the way the world shaped us. We developed thick skins because we had to. It wasn’t about being mean-spirited; it was about surviving and thriving in an environment where only the strong and quick-witted seemed to make it through unscathed. There was an unspoken rule: if you were tough enough to take it, you’d earn respect, and if not, well, you learned fast.

Fast forward to today, and Gen X still carries that unfiltered approach to life. We say what’s on our minds without worrying too much about offending anyone. Some might call us abrasive, but I like to think of it as being real. Life doesn’t always come with a warning label, and neither do we. We don’t sugarcoat because the world never sugarcoated anything for us. We were given the truth—sometimes ugly, sometimes uncomfortable—but always unvarnished.

Of course, this approach isn’t without its challenges in a world where every word is scrutinized and dissected. But the truth is, our directness comes from a place of authenticity. We value honesty over appeasement, clarity over ambiguity. We’ve seen what happens when you tiptoe around the truth—nothing gets solved, nothing moves forward. For us, getting to the heart of the matter, even if it means ruffling a few feathers, is worth the discomfort.

It’s not that we’re incapable of empathy or understanding. Far from it. We just believe that respect is earned through honesty and that real connections are built on a foundation of truth, not half-truths or pleasantries. Life’s too short to dance around issues or to let misunderstandings fester because no one wanted to speak up.

So here’s to Gen X—the generation that doesn’t sugarcoat, that values the raw, unfiltered truth, and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. We might not always be the most delicate, but you can bet we’ll always be the most real.

Stay unfiltered, keep it real! 🗣️✨