“Nineties Anxiety”: 50 Posts About The ’90s That Show What Life Was Like Back In The Day

If you weren't born in the 1990s and your only reference to the decade was the Nineties Anxiety Instagram Page, you'd think it was all about cool fashion, music, and movies. And sure, their 2.6 million followers might be a testament to how nostalgic we feel about the decade, but it may not accurately represent what it was like to live during it.

We asked Professor Kendal Phillips, whose academic interests include popular culture and public memory, to explain whether our nostalgia-saturated view of the '90s can compare to the reality of the last decade of the 20th century. "Like most decades, the '90s was a mixed bag of the good, the bad, and the bizarre," Phillips says.

The professor explains how the 1990s began on many positive notes. "[It] seemed to promise an age of new beginnings," he tells Bored Panda. "The Soviet Union had collapsed, Germany was reunifying, and Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa. It seemed like the beginning of a new age or, as George Bush put it, a 'new world order.'"

"Unfortunately, all the promise of an era without a simmering cold war didn't last long," Philips continues. "The US invasion of Iraq, the 1990s version, not the 2000s, revealed that the '90s was not going to be an age of peace and tranquility. The genocide in Rwanda was a dark preview of some of the atrocities to come, as was the war in the former Yugoslavia."

Things weren't looking so good inside the U.S., too. "Domestically, the '90s saw domestic terrorism in Oklahoma City, race riots in Los Angeles, and the horrific mass shooting at Columbine High School. So, if people were fixated on the sounds of grunge and the fantasies of a close group of Friends getting together at the Central Perk, well, let's just say we had reasons for seeking an escape."

That brings us to the issue of nostalgia in general, not just the '90s. Some say that it's a way for contemporary society to escape from the uncertainties of the present day. Professor Phillips somewhat agrees. "I think nostalgia often hinges on the desire to escape the present. Most scholars identify the rise of popular nostalgia in the 1800s as Western culture faced the increasing complexity of urban and industrial life." 

He says that since then, people more or less always sought comfort in romanticizing the past. "Just as folks in the 1820s might have dreamed of a simpler life on the farm, folks in the 2020s seem to be dreaming of a simpler life during [the] reign of Michael Jordan," Phillips observes.

Yet Phillips doesn't view nostalgia as a Big Bad Evil. "Nostalgia, in my estimation, is relatively harmless and can even be beneficial if we use these fantasies to try to unpack the core values we feel we've lost. Unfortunately, in the current age, there are also efforts to weaponize nostalgia and to use the fantasy of a better life in the past to villainize certain populations," he also adds.

Indeed, researchers have found that nostalgia can make us feel better. In 2008, Constantine Sedikides and colleagues did a series of studies. After these studies, they concluded that "chief among the perceived benefits of nostalgia was its capacity to generate positive affect, bolster social bonds, and increase positive self-regard."

"Nostalgic participants manifested stronger social connectedness than did control participants," the researchers explained further. "They felt more loved and protected, had reduced attachment anxiety and avoidance, and reported greater interpersonal competence."

But why the '90s exactly? What's so special about this decade in particular? Dr. Renee Middlemost, a lecturer in Global Communication and Media at the University of Wollongong's Faculty of Law, Humanities, and the Arts, has said that it's completely normal for current generations to look back at past decades. "Every generation looks back at past trends," she claimed.

She thinks that the vast availability of '90s media plays a part in how popular it is now. "I believe it has something to do with the way people are watching media these days. With platforms like Netflix around, people recommend shows to each other, and there are [fewer] people seeking out new things. Our tastes seem to have narrowed," she said.

Another factor is how the current youth finds the '90s media relatable. Take the show Friends. It's about navigating your life in your 20s and just hanging out with your friends. Dr. Middlemost returns back to the idea that nostalgia comforts us. "When you're feeling dark about the world, you go back to the things that make you feel better."