Hipsters

If you place two bugs in a jar, are they more or less likely to interact with each other if they're of the same species? Or two of any arthropod, for that matter? I don't know. I've only tried it once or twice. To tell you the truth, I don't even know what it looks like when two arthropods interact. Maybe I'd better stick with something closer to home for this metaphor.

If you place two primates in a cage, are they more or less likely to interact with each other if they're of the same species? It depends on the species. If they're particularly social, they're probably more likely to interact if they are the same species. For the sake of this thought experiment, we're going to assume that these animals have no predator/prey relationship, regardless of their respective species.

What about two humans? Will they be more likely to interact if they're of the same culture? Probably. How about subculture? One might expect so. When I had long hair and wore black and denim and boots and band shirts and considered myself a “metalhead” (around the age of 15), I would have been much more likely to interact with another person whom I considered to be a “metalhead” than someone who fit clearly into a different subculture, or didn't fit into a subculture at all.

Here's what I've been working up to: I just saw one hipster walking down the street (with his semi-expensive jacket, tight jeans, plastic framed sunglasses, and cigarette) pass another hipster (this one clad in a plaid shirt, thick black glasses, and one of those hats which was originally intended to hold dreadlocks, bearded, and playing an acoustic guitar) and they didn't give each other so much as a second glance.

When I deliberately placed myself into a subculture, I was always happy to recognize another member. I would, if nothing else, acknowledge him (or her) with a nod of the head. If I didn't belong to a stereotype which included “unpleasant demeanor” as a characteristic, I'd've given a smile.

This brings us to one of the characteristics of the “hipster” subculture which actually comes close to being unique: the tendency not to recognize oneself as a member of an easily defined group.

Metalheads, like my fifteen-year-old self, are usually quite unafraid to define themselves as metalheads. Gangsters (the fashion culture, not necessarily active members of gangs), to my observation, typically recognize and associate with members of the same culture. They may be less inclined to be friendly, and in fact may show aggression toward each other, but they at least understand the label which applies to them and acknowledge others of the same.

But hipsters rarely understand what the rest of the world means when it says “hipster”, nor, in many cases, that the label applies to them.

There are, of course, plenty of exceptions. I know a seventeen year old who dresses and acts like a stereotypical hipster, and proudly admits to it. Yet when I asked him to define “hipster”, he told me that a hipster is a person who doesn't really care what others think and does what he wants. Unfortunately (for him), this definition is quite inconsistent with how the rest of the world sees hipsters. Let's look at a few definitions of “hipster” which are easily accessible online:

Wikipedia defines the term “hipster” as such: young, recently settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers with interests in non-mainstream fashion and culture, particularly indie rock, independent film, magazines such as Vice and Clash, and websites like Pitchfork Media.

Wiktionary, Wikipedia's dictionary service, offers the following definition: A person who is keenly interested in the latest trends or fashions.

Urban Dictionary, an excellent source of public opinion on the definition of slang and popular terms, tells us that “hipster” means: 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.

Or: One who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed cool by the cool.

Or: Aged indie kids, Hipsters still maintain the air of snobbery, still shop at salvation army, and still have a completely astonishing array of knowledge when it comes to obscure music, pop-culture non-sequiturs, and political sneers.

Or: Referring to young people of around 18-30 years of age, who drink cheap beer (most often Pabst Blue Ribbon, on occasion Budwiser), smoke Parliaments, Lucky Strikes or hard to obtain foreign cigarettes (such as Gauloises) and take recreational drugs, coke being the most popular. Use a great deal of sarcasm, claim to be ironic. Are usually less than 5% body fat, drink copious amounts of coffee and eat children's cereal. Listen to Indie Rock, rely heavily on Pitchfork Media to tell them what's cool. Don't dance at concerts. Wear a mixture of thrifted clothing and items bought at American Apparel (commonly Tri-blend v-necks) and Urban Outfitters.

Or: urban (or suburban import) dweller who goes to all the coolest clubs, listens to the coolest music, is into various aspects of the arts, including but not limited to street art, indie films, street displays, sticker art, etc.... A hipster also must know all the coolest other hipsters. If you have to ask what a hipster is, then you are definitely not a hipster.

Or: A young adult who emigrates from a suburban or rural area to a major metropolis and sets about aggressively and semi-publically slipping and sliding up the steep learning curve of urban culture.


Boy, that sure is a lot of definitions from one site. Let's look at just one more (my favorite) definition of a hipster: LaughingSquid defines a hipster as “a person whose self-assumed coolness, individuality and importance surpasses their ability to see their conformity”.


What a variety of opinions! How on Earth can we figure out what a hipster is when there are such varied and contradictory definitions? Let's try to list a few characteristics of a stereotypical hipster, drawing both from my personal experience and these online definitions:

A hipster:

-Listens to “indie” music
-Watches “indie” films
-Smokes slightly uncommon but not particularly well thought of (by the average non-hipster) cigarettes
-Drinks specific brands of cheap beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon)
-Wears clothing acquired either at thrift stores or at specific relatively expensive stores
-Believes himself to be cool
-Does not believe your average joe off the street to be cool
-May or may not define himself as a hipster


At this point, you may be wondering, “why is Brandon so fascinated by hipsters?” To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure why I'm so fascinated by hipsters. I guess it's just that they seem to defy consistent definition, depending on who you ask, yet there seems to be a relatively consistent set of traits associated with people labeled by others as hipsters.

So if there is, in fact, a list of traits to accompany the label, why are the definitions so different? It comes down to opinion, I guess. I mean, there are people who like and hate stereotypical gangsters, metalheads, scene kids, nerds, punks, jocks, stoners, ravers, or any other popular subculture of Western (yes, by Western I do mean American) society. But because these groups are all characterized by specific clothing items, phrases, music, etc., as opposed to simply cool (regardless of the connotations of the word) clothing, phrases, music, etc., they are fairly easy to pinpoint.

Since everyone (except, some might claim, hipsters) has his own unique definition of what is or isn't cool, everyone (this time including hipsters) seems to have a different definition of who is or isn't a “hipster”.


One of the definitions of “hipster” I found online includes something like “if you have to ask what a hipster is, you are definitely not a hipster”. Since I've just spent so much time exploring what defines a hipster, I guess I'm not one. Since Cracked.com's article on hipsters begins with the sentence, “Hipsters couldn't incite more blind hatred if they were all ginger-haired Al-Qaeda members,” I guess that's something to be happy about.