Hipster

I was talking with someone yesterday and I’m just having a little problem that maybe you can help me with. I keep hearing this word “hipster” being thrown around. In my circles it’s mostly used as a derogatory term but I’m not really sure what it means?

Now, back in the day and even sometimes now I have been referred to as a “damn hippie” mostly I assume because I grow my hair and have been known to partake in the mystical use of psychedelics and mind expanding techniques to expand my awareness…basically I got high. I always thought of myself as more of a redneck with long hair (kind of like Joe Dirt), but being more urban than rural that was probably not the case. So, anyway being used to being called a hippie and looked upon strangely by un hippie types is nothing new to me, hearing things like “is that a boy or a girl”, and “them damn hippies stink”, and “why don’t you get a haircut boy "were pretty much the norm.

As you can see, this new hipster term is baffling. Is it good or is it bad, is it like being what we used to call people trying to look like skaters or surfers that we called “posers”? Now that term I can understand because it’s pretty self-explanatory i.e.; posing to look like something or somebody that you are not. Hipster actually sounds kind of cool, kind of beatnik like, if you are old enough to remember what a beatnik was. A beatnik was basically a cool cat who dug music, didn’t prescribe to the latest fashions, and sometimes had a cool goatee, like Maynard on the Dobie Gillis show, and said things like “hey wow man”. I guess the beatnik evolved into the hippie who said things like “hey wow man” and then “hey wow man, that’s groovy”.

It has been quite a few years since the hippie days, and there was quite a lull in the activity of cool cats or so it seems to me. There are a lot of old rockers still out there but most of them have gone along with the mainstream and shaved and got haircuts, stopped drinking and getting high and basically just being real people who like to make music and not being concerned with what they do or don’t look like or do. The rest of the world seemed to take a severe right hand turn over the last ten or fifteen years though ever since the punk rock days of Mohawks, ripped up clothes, and crazy ass head banging and mosh pits. Oh yeah, and I completely skipped over the disco days, loved the Bee Gees, but that was about it for that era of polyester everything. Now it seems like buzz cuts, and clean shaven right wing conservatism is the order of the day again for men, taking a complete swing back to the days that started the beatnik thing and then the hippie thing. People just get tired of going along with the crowd, and start bucking the status quo mainstream way of thinking, acting, and dressing.

So, getting back to my question what is a hipster let’s look at Webster’s definition. 1. Noun, “a person who follows the latest trends in fashions, especially those being regarded as outside the cultural mainstream”. Hmm, that leads to some interesting discussion, first, it is a person, ok, got that, second, someone who follows the latest trend in fashions, ok, got that, and third ,fashion is regarded as outside the cultural mainstream. Wow, so it’s a fashion thing? Now I’m really confused, lets dig a little deeper and try the 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 math 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."

I am starting to get the picture now…are hipsters just a made up version of actual real people? It appears that maybe they are posers just trying to act and look cool instead of actually being cool? They are not people that actually had to shop at thrift stores because they were dirt poor and wore ripped up jeans because they couldn’t afford new ones according to this definition. Are they like hippies without the drugs, dope fiends without the dope, or drunks without the booze? Let’s see:

1.       20’s or 30’s (leaves me out)

2.       independent thinkers, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter (I hate witty banter, but everything else seems cool)

3.       Cosmopolitan (so they live in the city, that leaves out country folk from being hipsters?)

4.       State of mind (what state of mind? need to be more specific here except that they are slaves to fashion, whether they know it or not)

5.       Fashion sensibilities (see above)

6.       Vintage and thrift store inspired fashions (people with money who don’t have to shop at thrift stores? That make a lot of fucking sense except see #4 above again), so they are the ones who drove up the prices at the damn thrift store, I was wondering about that...

7.       Androgynous hairstyles (wtf is that?) by creative stylists at urban salons (so they pay to look androgynous, hmm…still, wtf is that?)

8.       Well educated with liberal arts degrees (that’s cool, nothing wrong with being educated)

9.       Myth that hipsters are unemployed (there’s a myth?)

10.   Men don’t like fake blond hair, or overly tanned women in tube tops (leaves me the fuck out!)

Well, it seems like hipsters are just people trying to find their identity in this crazy ass world by dressing and acting a certain way that is counter to the mainstream, but mostly driven by their looks and fashions, and maybe a little by simulating a bohemian lifestyle. That doesn’t sound that bad, the problem it seems is that mainstream is always changing, and what is todays counter culture is tomorrows mainstream. So I suppose to be classified a hipster you are always evolving and ever changing, that seems very difficult and troublesome leading to much anxiety?

My philosophy on fashion is and always has been fairly simple, for guys is this, make sure you have a clean pair of underwear and socks, a pair of jeans (holes are ok but get a little chilly in winter), a good sturdy pair of boots, and a tee shirt (colored or white is ok). For summer you need to add shorts and flip flops, and for winter add long underwear, a hat, sweater, and jacket. If you exercise, a good pair of running shoes and some gym shorts are essential, and for hairstyles whatever makes you happy is cool.

Fashion for women is pretty much the same with the exception of maybe throwing in a cotton skirt for summer, a scarf (and the occasional tube top…had to throw that back in), swimwear is optional, and yoga pants are ok if you’re into yoga.

Ok, so this is probably right up there with one of the dumbest things that I have written, but I am a little clearer now on what a hipster is and I hope that you are too. When someone makes a derogatory statement again “nothing but a damn hipster” I’ll look at my notes, try to understand both sides of the comment, and then check to see what they look and act like so I will know next time when I see one….

Much love and peace my hip friend!

Robert

2016