In modern culture today, hipsters are considered a subculture within the greater part of society. There are certain ideologies associated with the term “hipster” and specific assumptions of what a hipster might look like, dress like, act like, and more. You could say the term “hipster” gives rise to various stereotypes of a class of people divided from the ordinary culture. Quite often, subcultures are created for those who don’t fit in or feel they don’t acquire a sense of belonging in typical mainstream culture; these individuals discover they want to embrace their differences, which then forms the “hipster” subculture consisting of people of similar nature.
In this paper I will analyze hipsters in conjunction with connecting them to popular culture and the ideas and concepts we have been examining in class. A hipster is generally known as a free thinker, down to earth, expressive, artistic, and a politically and environmentally aware type of person.
When we picture a hipster, we see a person wearing traditional clothes but of a distinct fashion, messy hair, and sometimes sporting the “I just rolled out of bed” look. Hipsters carry ideologies that they are arrogant, demanding, and sometimes extremely direct in their thoughts. In my experience, I have noticed that “hipsters” hang around urban areas where there are large sums of people going about their day. I have also observed that hipsters are generally strolling around by themselves, or conversing and connecting with people that share a similar appearance.
Although a majority of society affiliates a negative stereotype with hipsters, we need to recognize that not every individual that is considered a “hipster” corresponds with the typically pessimistic ideologies that are associated with the hipster subculture. With these ideas in mind, now consider the concept of looking vs. seeing the hipster subculture. Through Sturken and Cartwright’s reading the Practices of Looking, they surge into detail about how the concept of looking vs. seeing immediately relates to ideology.
While they focus the concept of looking vs. seeing with visual images, I find it’s interesting and helpful to apply the concept with the hipster subculture. When we look at a hipster, we see a ragged, angry, disheveled individual and it is no surprise that we instantly put our guard up. However, instead of simply looking at a hipster and making generalizations, it is remarkable to see into a hipster while taking note of what their life and culture entails.
Seeing into a hipster is seeing a dynamic person with differing values, experiences, expectations, and point of view. Hipsters can also be labeled as a counter culture because they reject mainstream consumerism and reject following the routine ways of life in modern culture. I have recognized that hipsters occasionally catch my eye in a crowd and make clear that they aren’t afraid to step out of the social norms and expectations society has set.
Hipsters usually stay away from gas guzzling vehicles and on average are environmentally and politically aware of what is taking place in our world today. Hipsters are especially strong participants in the new “green” era because they stick to environmentally friendly practices and encourage others to change their unhealthy habits that negatively affect the globe. From analyzing hipsters, they feel they are individually connected to the “be green” fad because their ideas and practices of being green started long before society caught up with the environmental trend.
This marks what Adorno and Horkheimer studied called the process of pseudo-individualization where people feel a sense of individuality on a certain subject or experience, but really they are one with the crowd following the latest fads in popular culture. Being green results as one of those fads where hipsters believe being environmentally friendly is to be separated from the crowd by not participating in typical culture that consists of constant consumerism.
However, the “green” fad has become exceptionally fashionable and commercialized as a new trend within popular culture in which many people are even competing on who can prove more concerned about preserving the environment. Although many hipsters feel they embrace their individuality by being a part of the green fad in popular culture, they are indeed unified with many others in society whom are making significant changes in hopes of bettering the planet.
Strolling down the streets of Portland, it is quite simple to find a person that identifies with the hipster subculture. Through studying hipsters, I have found that they obtain various ideologies and are labeled for not adhering to the social norms and expectations in our culture. Hipsters value individuality, freethinking, and sharing their own opinions and ideas. The hipster subculture ties in with the process of ‘bricolage’ in which they appropriate their own uses and meanings through mixtures of clothing, style, and other practices that set them apart from the mainstream culture today. The process of ‘bricolage’ in the hipster subculture is also recognized as a form of resistance to dominant cultures in society. By analyzing hipsters, I have gotten a better understanding of how various concepts we have studied in popular culture make significant connections to the hipster subculture and lifestyle. ( By McKenzie from www.psupopculture.wordpress.com )
HOW TO BE A HIPSTER ?
Oh,the hipster status: So easy to spot, but so difficult to attain. From the threads and music to your college major and apartment, any misstep can make you into a total poseur. The first part of hipster life is style. Be advised: Any brand that clearly states you spent good money on your jeans – designer brands – are not for hipsters. Hipster jeans look like your mom’s hotter friend wore them in the ’80s and lost them down a rain gutter, and you picked them up last week at your neighborhood Goodwill. In reality, you probably bought them at Urban Outfitters for $75 and paid for them with your dad’s credit card. Next, music. If you aren’t a music buff, don’t worry. Getting down to the nitty gritty of hipster jams is easy if you do your research. Pandora is a great resource, as you can search an acclaimed hipster band like The Pixies.
If you like them enough, you can buy a t-shirt from Hot Topic. If you’re looking for a more recent band, start with Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Belle & Sebastian or Fleet Foxes, as well as some mainstream hip-hop, such as Nicki Minaj or Lil’ Wayne. And don’t forget to nod your head slowly at all your neighborhood bands’ basement shows as well, buy their records and name drop them pretentiously (even if your best local band is just two dudes who can’t play the 10 gallon bucket and washboard they record with). Hipsters also tend to have obscure, intellectual or artsy college degrees.
Popular hipster majors and subsequent jobs include, but are not limited to: graphic design, arts administration, studio art, illustration, computer animation, philosophy, women’s studies, anthropology, psychology, communications, film, media production, journalism, literature, etc. It’s all about paying the big bucks to attend a small, private, liberal arts college to get a degree in the things that will teach you the art of traveling, writing, using cameras and sitting on curbs chain smoking and thinking.
Because a hipster’s job prospects might include such titles as bike chain engineer, herb cultivator or collage art critic these people tend to have a certain attitude — a blend of indifference, sleepiness and snobbery. They’re never busier than you are, but they think they are. They do not get too excited about anything. They do not suck up or act like anyone is actually cool (who can be cooler, really?). They always talk about needing coffee or cigarettes or a beer, regardless of the time of day.
This combination is particularly common if you are also a runner or vegetarian – nothing adds to a hipster’s mystique like being a running, smoking vegetarian. But, hipsters also tend to know the best local places to grab good, cheap food (although it might be vegan). A hipster’s living arrangement is the most paradoxical part of the existence, however. Hipsters tend to have rich parents.
Of course, they’d completely lose their hipster status living at home in a McMansion, so hipsters tend to live in small apartments in gritty parts of their cities of choice, with at least two other people. It’s all about street cred, even though the closest most hipsters have ever been to a shootout is a blow-out sale at Anthropologie.
Want to find the neighborhood in question? Just look for bohemians, hippies, gays, artists, independent coffee shops, bike shops, college students and street art (but not Shepard Fairey. What. A. Sellout.). Heed this warning: Hipsters are generally disliked by wannabe hipsters. Mimicry is just another burden the uber-cool must bear, so tread lightly as you become a hipster. In the end, you’ll really know you’re a hipster when everyone calls you one but your curt reply is always, “Fuck hipsters.” ( By Renee Mitson from www.thenextgreatgeneration.com ) We invite you to see the funny video bellow too.