Hipsters: The American Postmodern Culture

The dictionary defines a hipster as, “someone who rejects the established culture and advocates extreme liberalism in politics and lifestyle.” Hipsters are often compared to the hippies during the 1960’s. Similar to the Haight Ashbury generation, hipsters tend to reject mainstream culture and create their own subculture. The focuses of the culture relate to art, music, literature, film, and nonconformist principles. It is generally thought to be a liberal society, more often than not, rejecting Republican politics, especially that of Conservatives.
The most prominent place to find hipsters would be New York City; more commonly Manhattan and Brooklyn; particularly Williamsburg, Wicker Park in Chicago, and the Mission District in San Francisco. In places like the West Village you can often find hipsters in cafés, bars, record stores, art galleries, and thrift stores. Thrift stores are where they get the majority of their clothing, for a few reasons. The culture generally rejects the idea of big corporations and would rather not be part of the zombie-like social norm of supporting and accepting big businesses. They also tend to take extreme pride and effort into finding unique and individual fashions that no one else is wearing.
Hipsters frequent places such as The Salvation Army and Goodwill, Urban Outfitters and American Apparel. The hipster fashion has become more and more recognized lately and stores have been gearing more towards those needs. If you go to either of the Beacon’s Closet locations in Brooklyn you’ll find almost only second-hand clothes that would pass the hipster test. Scarves have little to do with keeping you warm, and hairstyles are often messy, unique, and androgynous.
Each hipster tries to be individual and innovative with his or her wardrobe, but there are a few essentials. Most at least own a pair of dark rimmed glasses, or horn-rimmed sunglasses and layers up with different articles of clothing that wouldn’t be the most typical get-up on a West Side yuppie. A hipster would define a “yuppie” as a “young urban/upcoming professional, who enjoys to flaunt their money and designer clothing, and like to think that they gentrify affordable areas of the city.” Once they take over those areas, that part of the city often becomes unaffordable for most of the people that are not actually yuppies.
Hipsters like to live more simply, not spending exorbitant amounts of money on much of anything. The most the typical hipster would pay would be their monthly rent, or while buying a new acoustic guitar, or incredibly vintage leather jacket. They are often misconceived as unintelligent or undereducated, but often hold a liberal arts degree and have strong analytical capabilities and senses.
It is common for a hipster to base attractions on intellectual levels and personal interests. The more affluent societal focus is on physical appearance; many hipsters reject these ideals as oppressive and misogynistic. A lot of mainstream people and companies reject hipster fashion, but unwittingly copy their trends. When you walk into an Abercrombie & Fitch or American Eagle today you will find more jeans with rips and holes than anything else. Hipsters who bought their jeans more-than-gently used in thrift stores originated this style.
Although hipsters have become for prevalent and culturally rich in postmodern society, they are often alienated and thought of as some sort of anti-American societal plague. This view really couldn’t be farther from the truth, and is often fueled by conformist “average” members of society who are often culturally deprived and view intelligence and eclecticism as wrong and a threat to masculinity.
Even putting aside the fashion, music, and literature, the common hipster ideals could really benefit society if practiced regularly. The idea of acceptance of all groups of people in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, background, socioeconomic status, and a focus on the importance of cultural awareness and diverse knowledge of the world around should be incredibly important to everyone. There is no reason why these values should only be practiced or recognized by a frizzy-haired, American Apparel wearing, organic tea-drinking hipster.
The popular literature among the hipster culture can often include a sundry array of titles, but there is a definite emphasis on the Beat Generation’s Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs. Books, theatre, and poetry are all vitally important to the hipster culture. Music can really vary, but there is a strong prominence of unreleased records, underground mixtapes, and frequently attending live performances in smaller intimate venues.
The more common medium for acquiring music is either purchasing every album you can possibly get in vinyl or getting tracks through music blogs and mix CD’s passed around through groups of friends. Hipsters typically take pride in owning unreleased and rare tracks from their favorite artists, as well as obtaining old songs from their previous bands which most had back in high school or college. There is a common tendency for hipsters to prefer the music of artists that are not very mainstream. There is a common stereotype that hipsters “know bands that don’t exist yet.”
Another common interest among the culture is independent film. Obviously you can find hipsters going to the local AMC theatre to see Slum Dog Millionaire, but the more common hipster movie experience would be finding a smaller theatre that has the maximum of a handful of screens and shows independent and foreign films. These films often contain more substance than the typical high budget silver screen films that depict the action hero or awkward high school underachiever. These films often relate to people on a more personal and human level and pertain to cultural and ethical issues.
The hipster culture is looked at in many lights throughout American society. Some people have never even heard the terminology, and others wish that they hadn’t, but overall it is a vast and diverse society with rich cultural and innovative offerings in music, literature, art, and politics. They hold to a strong set of ideals that many Americans could really benefit from in comparison to certain aspects of the current “social norm.”

The above photograph is from Brooklyn Vegan. Visit Brooklyn Vegan at www.brooklynvegan.com