Redefining “Hipster”
Some time ago, local mid-life scenester blog All Over Albany asked its readers to provide the penultimate definition of the term hipster. The term had been used as a barb in recent discussions, in particular concerning the great Albany chickens debate.
The definition I provided:
Hipster [hips*tur] n.
1. A person on the internet with whom you disagree; in particular the person should be young and liberal.
2. An ihabitant of Williamsburgh whose identity hinges on the increasing level of obscurity in their musical tastes and their battle with Hasidic Jews over whether or not bike lanes should be added to their streets.
3. Bombers patron who is insistent on an imminent relocation to New York City that never happens.
4. An individual who forsakes all clothing and technology developed in the last twenty years, as such wears clothes only from thrift stores and listens to vinyl; distant cousin of Pennsylvania Amish.
Of course, my definition is meant to be tongue in cheek, but the word has acquired a bit more sting in recent years.
The term “hipster” been around in some form for decades, starting with the beatnik movement in the 1950s. One didn’t strive to become a hipster, and it was a word that one would never call themselves. However, it’s only recently that the term has acquired such a fiercely negative connotation. A hipster used to be somebody who was at worst trying a bit too hard to fit into a scene, but more recent applications have invoked hostility towards liberal policy and gentrification. It started as a backlash against trust fund artists and enfant terribles that occupied Williamsburgh in Brooklyn, but has since expanded in scope both in terms of geography and the type of person earning the label. As such the word has all but lost its original meaning and become an insult as common in application as “d-bag” or “a-hole” and almost interchangeable with the terms.
I’m dreading the day when I have children and have to chastise one child for calling another a hipster. Then I’ll tell kids that in my day “hipster” meant a very specific type of person, and also there was a time when if you wanted to watch a television show you had to do so at a very specific time determined by a network. Then they’ll both stare at me like I’m from another planet, and I’ll say “shut up and eat your dinner.”
9 Responses to Redefining “Hipster”
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It’s not so much the “definition” of being a hipster, it’s whether people “accept” the definition of hipster that you provide. That’s where the problem arises.
I don’t think I’m a hipster. I’m more of a Chuckster.
I thought it meant someone who was “hip to it”, like “in the know”. Your definition fits with the current though.
I thought some of the above were trustiffarians. Rustiffarians with trust funds.
Ripping hipsters has become mainstream in Austrailia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5dIzY7yvRA
Young people trying to look like old photos of their parents.
http://dadsaretheoriginalhipster.tumblr.com/
Two things I hate most about proto-typical hipsters:
1. They insist on wearing hats without knowing how to do it properly. You don’t tuck your ears into a trilby. And you don’t wear them inside.
2. They make people hate lots of things I have done for years, decades even. Like wearing glasses. Or drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon. Or being too lazy to shave. For me, it’s not a desperate fashion choice! It’s blindness, cheapness, and laziness, respectively.
People in thier 20’s wearing wool caps in the summer, drinking triple-half-caf-grande-lattes while texting and listening to their iPods.
I prefer hipster doofus.
Hey Hey Hey! Give credit where credit’s due – I tagged Nester 1st as said hipster definition! ( am soooo hip, ironically).
Many of you seem to have no sense of irony ;-)