For most people, there has always been some ambiguity to what exactly a hipster is. However, if one thing is true about the hipster culture, it is that they are almost universally hated by everyone. The further I read into the culture of hipsters, the more it confuses me.
Some see hipsters as those who enjoy outdated fashions and retro trends. They love indie music and wearing thick-rim glasses with cardigans and scarves. If there is a way for them to act alternatively, they try their best to do so. The list of stereotypes for hipster are endless. However, a hipster does not have to be all of these things. There are a few core aspects of hipsters that one must have in order to be hipster and a person can be just one of these or a combination of them.
As I see it, these aspects are as follows:
1. Hipster love to be different from everyone else. Whether it is the music they listen to, the way they dress, what they read, what they watch, or what they study (or studied) in college, hipsters revel in their ability to set themselves apart from mainstream culture. If they have the new CD of some obscure indie band, you will be the first to know. That is of course, right before they fill you in on how you have probably never heard of them before.
2. Hipsters are always better than you. They don’t just think that their music and artistic influences are better than yours, they KNOW, and they don’t have any problem telling you to your face. Playing into the theme of being different, hipsters like to think of themselves as better than mainstream society. Who cares if they don’t have a job and therefore must submit themselves to lower quality of living? At least they are above people who lead productive lives, because everyone knows they are just tools in the corruption of greedy companies and corporations.
3. Hipsters will find a way to be ironic about everything. This also plays into the theme of being different from others. Hipsters often dress the way they do, wearing scarves, beanies, cardigans and the like, just for the sake of being ironic. So what if they are uncomfortable and sweating in the dead of summer just to be ironic? They are making a statement to unbearable mainstream society in which they are forced to live.
4. Hipsters must always insist that they just don’t care.When you question why they do what they do, they may shrug. When you point out the obvious inconveniences of their lifestyles, they do not address them and just do not care. The irony behind this fact is that hipsters spend so much time and effort into being different from or better than you and the rest of society, that it starts to bring into question if they care or not. They love to suggest that they don’t care, but that is an awful lot of trouble to go through just to be different. Then again, maybe they just think its ironic to act like they don’t care when they really do.
I know a lot of people who have a hard time expressing themselves because they don’t want to be considered hipster. While I may not agree with the exact way that hipsters are treated by society, there is a lesson we can learn from them. You don’t have to be a pretentious, irony-loving jerk to be different. You can enjoy cardigans, scarves, beards or anything you want. You don’t have to act like you don’t care about anything or anyone. Just keep that in mind.
