Sunday, February 13, 2011

Hipsterdom

Hipsters are running rampant in our society, particularly in the college crowd. I have mixed feelings about hipsters.

In general, I think counterculture movements tend to start out with good intentions and slowly decay as their fashions and ideals become fetishized and consumed by the masses (case in point: beatniks, hippies, punks, goths, emo kids, etc…). At some point, society accepts them as a kind of blended normalcy, and adornments and attitudes once unique to a particular social sect start becoming brandished by “posers,” trying to establish some sort of rebellious credibility. This spreads. The movement becomes cheapened, and eventually nobody respects the movement any longer. Be it tie-dye shirts, mohawks, or baggy clothing, the symbols of energetic movements based on individualism eventually become marketable lifeless tokens of imagery.

But hipsters are different, at least they seem to be. Or want to think that they are. It seems that modern hipsters put an emphasis on individualism far beyond compliance with even countercultural “norms.” This is evidenced by the continued assertion that admitting you’re a hipster immediately excludes you from being a hipster, and in order to maintain your hipsterdom, it’s almost necessary to denounce other hipsters as being hipsters. Confusing, yes. Somehow the mustaches and fedoras and corny glasses seem to make more appearances within the crowd, diminishing their struggle to avoid any distinguishing characteristics, but for the most part I think this movement has held up.

The one issue I find is that hipsters often tend to like things or wear things or say things simply because nobody else is engaging in them. They make their choices based on the opposite of what most people would expect from them. And while a kind of rebelliousness against conformity is admirable, I still cannot help but feel insincerity from it (in general, of course). You see, truly being an individual means disregarding society’s trends, not simply trying to work against them. Even though you’re resisting succumbing to the collective pool of normalcy by coming out against it, you’re still making your decision based on what others think. To truly be an individual, you can’t take what society wants into consideration at all—which is something, I think, beyond any of us.

As far as counterculture movements go, I feel like hipsterdom is keeping its pace. But the decisions they tend to make are still not independent, even though they’re rooted in rebelliousness, because they’re still in essence based on cultural beliefs.

11 comments:

  1. "You see, truly being an individual means disregarding society’s trends, not simply trying to work against them."
    There barely are any people like that anymore, just a few groups. Pitty. It's getting stupid seeing everyone doing the same things others do, wearing the same things others do, all that kind of stuff. People don't even bother trying to be original anymore D:

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've always had a problem with hipsters. Their awesomer-than-thou attitude coupled with their ability to cause sheer annoyance has led me to feel almost unrestrained hatred for their kind. It's getting to the point that when you dress the way you want, you're a hipster. I've been called as such only because I wear what I feel like wearing, and not following any of the largely accepted styles.

    Excuse the rant, but hipsters just irritate the hell out of me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So what exactly does the term 'hipster' mean? I'm hearing it everywhere

    ReplyDelete
  4. i think college is just a phase..so is hipsters... people eventually grow out of that stage

    http://skybluetrading.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Interesting thoughts. I agree with most of it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Whats the difference? Its just a trend. Its the punk attitude against conformity + drug use of the hippies + self hatred of the emos + similiar vintage that inspired goths just in the 21st century.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hipsters think they are really cool, but in reality, they just look dumb!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a well put together piece. Keep up the good work. Defintly following.

    ReplyDelete