Gen Z Aging Faster? People Think This Guy Is 35!

You know Jordan Howlett, the TikTok hotshot with 12 million followers? Last week, he dropped a bomb on everyone – turns out he is not in his mid-30s like everyone thought. He went viral by raising an issue about how Gen Z is a generation that is aging way faster than millennials.

But is the theory about Gen Z’s rapid aging really a thing? What do experts have to say about it? And how old is Jordan precisely?

The Viral Video

When the video was uploaded, people could not wrap their heads around it. One person was like, “Hold up, aren’t you, like, 35?” Another was convinced that Gen Z is out here “recycling ancestors.” Wild, right?

Jordan, finding the humor in it all, went viral suggesting that Gen Z is aging at warp speed. His theory? Blame it on the stress – economic struggles, job uncertainties, and the pressure to succeed before hitting 30. Oh, and the podcast hosts he reacted to? They think it’s because Gen Z is “chronically online, depresso stresso.”

“Forget about the beard. It’s his voice 😂. Bro got the voice of someone who walked hand in hand with MLK,” said another jokingly.

Another one stated, “On behalf of the millennials we accept you as our own.“

His stories are pretty funny – like people mistaking him for his mom’s older brother or assuming he has kids when he says he is hanging out with family (he means his parents, not kids, by the way). And then there is that time he asked The Rock for an autograph, and The Rock thought he was talking about his son.

Jordan tells the story in an almost cracking voice which makes it very funny to listen to. He told Johnson “It’s for Jordan” to which the actor wrote, “Your dad is a great guy; he stood out here for hours,” thinking he was talking about his son. Classic mix-up.

“Dude, Dwayne is 52, I am 26, what?” the TikToker exclaimed.

Jordan, who also moonlights as a substitute teacher, noticed he and his Gen Z pals seemed older than they were. And his TikTok comments blew up with people agreeing and sharing their own experiences. Even millennials and Gen Xers were chiming in, saying he looked their age.

What Do Other Gen Z’s Have to Say?

But hey, it is not just Jordan stirring the pot. Other Gen Zers are getting in on the action. Taylor Donoghue went viral in September because her boyfriend joked that she was 47, and someone legit believed it. Talk about a reality check!

Now, people are tossing around theories. Some blame it on not playing outside enough or not getting that good old vitamin D. Others think it’s because Gen Z is all about trying to grow up way too fast.

But hold up, there might be something to it. Some think it is the anti-aging obsession – Gen Z diving into skincare products and treatments way too early. There’s even talk about how smoking and vaping are hitting Gen Z harder than millennials. Go figure.

But what do experts have to say about this? Is Gen Z rapid aging theory a real thing? Continue reading to find out.

Experts Weight in on Gen Z Aging Theory

Experts are weighing in too. For Daily Mail, Dr. Suzanne Ferree from Atlanta mentions vaping and chronic stress as factors. Apparently, stress releases cortisol, a hormone that ages your face, breaks down collagen, and messes with your DNA. Not to mention, the pandemic hit us pretty hard, and that didn’t help with the stress levels. She also weighed in on the vaping issue claiming, “There’s a lot of vaping that goes on in the Gen Z group, and that is certainly going to at least age your skin faster, if not other parts of your body.”

The New York Times also talked to experts about the issue. Renee Engeln, a 47-year-old psychology professor at Northwestern University dropped a truth bomb when she said, “There is a sense in which young people have forgotten what faces look like.” Why? Because Gen Z has been stuck in a cycle of endlessly scrolling through perfectly airbrushed faces – theirs and everyone else’s. Professor Engeln points out that they’ve been soaking up images of people who’ve gone under the knife or had some anti-aging magic, with fewer examples of faces just doing their natural aging thing.

Devorah Heitner, a 48-year-old expert on kids and tech, and author of “Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World,” talked to The New York Times about the issue too. She brought up another point: social media lays on the pressure and hands over the tools to tweak your face in a heartbeat. According to Dr. Heitner, even 10-year-olds might be faking their age online just to get in on the adult action.

Gen Z and Cosmetics

All this drama is neatly packaged and served up by the beauty and cosmetics big shots. They’ve got their eyes on younger customers, completely messing with what we think people should look like in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond. So, basically, Gen Z is caught up in a whirlwind where real faces are competing with the filtered and altered versions, and it is turning into a bit of a wild ride.

And for the ladies in the house, trying to look a bit older online gets tossed out the window when you realize society wants you to look younger. As Dr. Heitner puts it, “You’re basically supposed to be 25 from the time you’re 13 to 40.”

Critics say we’re just being overly vain or falling into societal pressure, but some think it is more of a quarter-life crisis. As we grow older, we will not only have to deal with the physical changes but also the pressure to figure out our lives. Maybe we should wait on research and data to see if Gen Z aging theory is really a thing. Let’s see how this conversation unfolds as we all keep growing up, filters or no filters.

What generation are you? And more importantly, how are you aging?

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