Are You A Rejuvinile Too?

As a child I used to look at people in their 20s and 30s and think they seemed so mature – so old. I presumed they all had high-powered jobs, made a tonne of money, and did decidedly ‘adult things’, like conduct business meetings, scour the stock market, and eat caviar. I never would’ve predicted that now, at our big age, we’d all still be playing video games, cuddling teddies, and rewatching old episodes of Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

But as it turns out, an adult love for childlike things is actually pretty common. Chances are you know someone who’s really into ‘90s cartoons. You probably have a friend who goes on a Sims 2 binge every now and again. You’ve definitely spied an iconic Sylvanian Family in a toy shop and thought ‘I wouldn’t mind playing with those again.’ 

Is this simply our love for all things nostalgic, or is there actually a deeper reason behind the comfort we take from childlike things? 

Author Christopher Noxon says there is. Or rather, he said it in his book on what he calls the ‘Rejuvinile’ – an adult who still enjoys the youthful pleasures of things like cartoons, comics, and cupcakes. Noxon points as far back as the early 1900s as the root of the rejuvinile, when the lines between childhood and adulthood started to blur with the introduction of things like amusement parks, mass-produced sweets, and Alice In Wonderland. 

Photo by Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto

“It was also a time of great flux and uncertainty,” he told NPR. “I think part of what’s going on here is our own kind of anxiety about the adult’s life, and [we’re] kind of retreating back to an escapist place, but also a more adaptable and open one.”

Millennials in particular seem keen on hanging onto the solace of the simple. Unlike the generations before us, we’re not all starting families young, marrying our teenage partners, and buying houses in our 20s. While some of these societal shifts may come from having access to more choice, some of them are also born of restrictions – particularly those around the cost of living and housing. 

It makes perfect sense that this generation is perhaps more comfortable in embracing childlike things and incorporating them into adult life. Our idea of what ‘adulthood’ would look like when we were children largely doesn’t match the lives we’re living. The housing crisis has caused hundreds of adults to move back in with their parents, but has it also led to an uptick in Spongebob rewatches too? 

According to a poll on STELLAR’s Instagram, 71% of readers still enjoy a childhood comfort like an old game, a doll, a teddy, or a film. What’s more is that 92% of people believe there’s nothing wrong with hanging onto childlike things right into adulthood. After all, there is a massive difference between having a plush on your bed and flat out refusing to grow up. 

This feature is from the Oct/Nov issue of STELLAR Magazine, on shelves now. 

• Childhood
• toys