I’ve been thinking a lot lately on the whole “Hipster”… thing. I posted an article that I thought was really interesting then my mind just keep going. I slipped in discussions about hipsters to a bunch of different people so I could get some perspective.
The most interesting conversation I had was with an anonymous Louisiana born Boomer whom I sat with on an airplane on my way out to San Fransisco for MacWorld 2010. She said something really interesting that really resonated with me. She said she felt like hipsters don’t stand for anything and she felt like that was weird. She said if “if you don’t stand for somethin’, you don’t stand for nothin’”.
What I want to rant know about is, what’s with Hipsters denying they’re Hipster? I know it’s hipster to be ironic but COME ON. Is it that hipsters are so overwhelmingly paranoid/insecure about their lack of authenticity like many claim? I don’t know because I find hipsters to be authentic.
I AM a hipster by definition and from my perspective I feel like I know a lot of unbelieveably well rounded, well traveled, well spoken and well educated (hipster) people. I completely disagree with the airplane Louisianian’s notion that being about everything means you’re ultimately about nothing. I think the world has just never seen the rise of such a global society member so they don’t know how to react to and classify them.
Hipsters are the original bi-product of the first, in my opinion, truly global economy. We’re the first TRULY global generation and it’s in large part due to the rise of technology happening while we were being raised. There’s no other generation that’s been able to be so interconnected, so networked and so enabled to be this way. To me it seems every generation feels like there’s no generation like it that came before it but this time I feel it’s truly more the case, at least if we’re talking in terms of global reality communications leaving deep societal impressions on the youth.
I know it’s corny to quote the dictionary but I found this GREAT definition of a hipster that most encompasses any description of hipsters I’ve ever seen over at Urban Dictionary:
Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20′s and 30′s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter. The greatest concentrations of hipsters can be found living in the Williamsburg, Wicker Park, and Mission District neighborhoods of major cosmopolitan centers such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco respectively. Although “hipsterism” is really a state of mind,it is also often intertwined with distinct fashion sensibilities. Hipsters reject the culturally-ignorant attitudes of mainstream consumers, and are often be seen wearing vintage and thrift store inspired fashions, tight-fitting jeans, old-school sneakers, and sometimes thick rimmed glasses. Both hipster men and women sport similar androgynous hair styles that include combinations of messy shag cuts and asymmetric side-swept bangs. Such styles are often associated with the work of creative stylists at urban salons, and are usually too “edgy” for the culturally-sheltered mainstream consumer. The “effortless cool” urban bohemian look of a hipster is exemplified in Urban Outfitters and American Apparel ads which cater towards the hipster demographic. Despite misconceptions based on their aesthetic tastes, hipsters tend to be well educated and often have liberal arts degrees, or degrees in maths and sciences, which also require certain creative analytical thinking abilities. Consequently many hipsters tend to have jobs in the music, art, and fashion industries. It is a myth that most hipsters are unemployed and live off of their parent’s trust funds.
Hipsters shun mainstream societal conventions that apply to dating preferences and traditional “rules” of physical attraction. It is part of the hipster central dogma not to be influenced by mainsream advertising and media, which tends to only promote ethnocentric ideals of beauty. The concepts of androgyny and feminism have influenced hipster culture, where hipster men are often as thin as the women they date. The muscular and athletic all-American male ideal is not seen as attractive by confident and culturally-empowered hipster women who instead view them as symbols of male oppression, sexism, and misogyny. Likewise, culturally-vapid sorority-type girls with fake blond hair, overly tanned skin, and “Britney Spears tube-tops” are not seen as attractive by cultured hipster males who instead see them as symbols of female insecurity, low self-esteem, and lack of cultural intelligence and independent thinking. Hipsters are also very racially open-minded, and the greatest number of interracial couples in any urban environment are typically found within the hipster subculture.
Although hipsters are technically conformists within their own subculture, in comparison to the much larger mainstream mass, they are pioneers and leaders of the latest cultural trends and ideals. For example, the surge of jeans made to look old and worn (i.e. “distressed”), that have become prevalent at stores such as The Gap, American Eagle, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Hollister, were originally paraded by hipsters who shopped in thrift stores years before such clothing items were mass produced and sold to the mainstream consumer. The true irony here is that many of the detractors of hipster culture are in fact unknowingly following a path that hipsters have carved out years before them. This phenomena also applies to music as well, as many bands have become successful and known to mainstream audiences only because hipsters first found and listened to them as early-adopters of new culture. Once certain concepts of fashion and music have reached mainstream audiences, hipsters move on to something new and improved.
Because of the rise of various online photo-blog and social networking sites, insights into urban hipster culture is reaching sheltered suburban audiences at an exponential rate. Cultural “norms” have been deconstructed by hipster culture as a whole. Hipsterism is often dismissed as just an image thing by some, but the culture as a whole is effecting changes in society, leading to feelings of insecurity and resentment in people who are no longer a part of the cultural ruling class. For example, a lot of anti-hipster sentiment evidently comes from culturally-clueless suburban frat boy types who feel that the more sensitive, intelligent, and culturally aware hipster ideal threatens their insecure sense of masculinity. Anti-hipster sentiment often comes from people who simply can’t keep up with social change and are envious of those who can.”
So, there’s that. I kind of just wanted to share.
My mom and I are very close. She’s a pretty typical Boomer, I’d say. She’s just as much of a Baby Boomer as I am a Millennial.
