“In other words,” writes Howard Chudacoff in his conclusion to Children at Play, “children’s ‘aspirational age’ has risen, while that of adults has fallen. An eleven-year-old no longer asks for a stuffed animal or fire truck and instead desires a Madden NFL football game, a cell phone, an iPod, or a Beyoncé Knowles CD, while a thirty-five-year-old may also indulge by buying a Madden football game, a cell phone, an iPod, or a Beyoncé Knowles CD.”
I definitely see dads (well, moms too for that matter) dressing like teenagers with an ‘aspirational age’ far below their own. What’s driving /this/ phenomenon? Many adults are on delayed maturation path?
