I was cleaning out some of my old notes/assignments tonight and funnily stumbled across this article I had to write for a youth subculture project about hipsters. It required barely any research since the places I frequent are so plagued with hipsters, they’re impossible to ignore. I edited in a few points to make it more blog-friendly, so if you know any at-risk teens who might be stealing dad’s work flannels and trying to organically grow a goatee, I was hoping this might be somewhat of an 'educational' read.
Subculture Research Report
History and rationale behind the subculture
The term hipster originated in the 1940s to describe white middle class youth who were largely into jazz and wanted to emulate the lifestyles of their favourite black musicians. After World War II, the subculture evolved through an emerging literary scene of beat poets such as Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs and Allan Ginsberg. Hipsters were characterised as American existentialists who needed to find meaning in social rebellion, wanderlust and uncharted spirituality as a reaction to the nihilistic alienation of the post-war political climate. From the late 1990s through late 2000s, hipster culture was revived as a new fetishism for the underground scene in reaction to the rise of popular culture in an increasingly media-dominated world. Today young people are more inclined to feel anxious about failing to live up to consumerist ideals plastered all over cult indie blogs and trendy street zines. Because advertisers have created an alluring market for them, hipsters feel the need to always find novel ways of asserting their individuality for fear of fading into insignificance or mediocrity. Many struggling artists started uploading their work for free online and gained a dedicated following of hipsters who wanted to be part of a scene or community which reflected their interests.
Subculture overview — The Interests of a Hipster
Music: Hipsters mostly listen to indie music influenced by a range of different genres; dubstep, electro-pop, rock, folk, reverb-laden r&b and shoegaze to name a few. They typically shun mainstream radio and take pride in being the first to discover new obscure artists no one else has ever heard of from Pitchfork and underground blogs. Bars and live music venues such as Goodgod Small Club and Oxford Art Factory are filled with hipsters on a typical Friday night, though they usually only turn up to have their photos tagged on Scenestr or featured in street press columns like The Brag. Hipsters also frequent music festivals such as Groovin' the Moo, Falls festival and Laneway. Popular hipster artists right now include Y△CHT, Alt-J, Beach House, Foals, Collarbones and horrifically enough - Taylor Swift.
Fashion: From ripped upcycled vests to overgrown goatees, hipster fashion is well known for catalyzing the "homeless aesthetic" to be in vogue. They are accused of facetiously expressing solidarity with capitalism's underclasses by mixing expensive vintage pieces with working class fabrics like plaid and paisley. Hipsters on the runway have caused controversy and offence by wearing the Muslim hijab and Native American headdress with a blasé attitude towards feeding ethnic stereotypes. Hipsters tend to be more image-conscious than principle-driven, so they'll shop at charity stores and community markets to diffuse consumerist guilt, while secretly buying from chain stores like Topshop and Cream, finding new vintage, indie rocker and bohemian inspired pieces to complete their look. Wardrobe must-haves include leather boots, v-neck t shirts, slouched beanies, tucked in grandma blouses with high waisted skirts, denim shorts or skinny jeans, and fake thick rimmed glasses. Hipsters typically dress like they are going to a music festival even if they are just on their way to TAFE or uni.
Art: Hipsters tend to frequent art galleries and may be compelled to create their own art. Hipster art is often influenced by internet memes, recycled collage effects and the use of trending recurring symbols such as triangles, nebulas, bears and pizza. Hipsters take their typography seriously, mourning the lost art of letterpress, while worshipping Helvetica and using Comic Sans ironically. Amateur photography is also popular among hipsters, particularly achieving the effect of vintage lomography using digital filters and adobe lightleaks. Craft is preferably made from recycled materials and sold at second hand markets.
Lifestyle and philosophy: Hipsters claim to draw as much ideological influence from past countercultural movements as they do with art and fashion. They tend to be left-learning, environmentally-conscious and non-religious, though critics accuse them of only adopting these beliefs for superficial and status conscious reasons. Hipsters can typically be spotted drinking organic coffee and eating vegan, gluten free meals in cafes around Newtown, Surry Hills and Glebe. Fixed geared bicycles are the most common form of transport used. More intellectual hipsters like to frequent old bookshops and fetishise obscure ideas.
Reasons for young people’s attraction to the subculture
Young people might be attracted to becoming a hipster because the subculture is underpinned by the motivation to both stand out and fit in. Hipsters tend to win over their friends by proving that they own all of Sonic Youth’s B-sides and were the first to have an appreciation for Wes Anderson films before the hype of Moonrise Kingdom. Hipsters often attempt to rival the ambitious drive of techno-bohos by developing an abnormal obsession with apple products, smoking Dunhill luxury cigarettes, and juggling amateur DJing projects to bludge through their arts degrees. Young people who feel misunderstood may want to hide behind their superior tastes and develop an ironic sense of humour as a defense mechanism to convince themselves that others’ opinions won’t affect them.
Positives of being a hipster:
Hipsters may be popular in their social group for knowing about the latest music, films, fashion, hangout hotspots and cultural trends before they become mainstream.
Hipsters also tend to belong to a large online community of bloggers, artists and photographers in websites such as Tumblr, Scenestr and Instagram. They are pros at social media networking and tend to be effortlessly creative.
Hipsters don’t tend to be very conservative in their views and don’t typically subscribe to religious dogmas. Their pronounced sense of individuality and non-conformity makes them more like to resist being labelled or told what to do. (hence the irony of ‘anti-hipsters’ being the ultimate hipsters)
Downsides of being a hipster:
They tend to be perceived as snobby, unoriginal and pretentious due to identifying strongly with the superiority of their aesthetic tastes.
It is uncommon to hear anyone identify as a hipster because the term is subject to much satire and ironic reference in the media. Meanwhile young people who are genuinely attracted to the counterculture of being a hipster usually struggle to find a sense of belonging in mainstream society.
The subculture also has a dark underbelly of glorified apathy, preoccupation with self-image and heavy partying where drugs and alcohol are often encouraged.
Summary of relevant articles
The Hipstermattic is a humorously self-deprecating autobiography about a man who has just been dumped by his girlfriend and is on a quest to try on a new identity as a hipster. Journalist Matt Granfield describes the subculture in detail and recounts his adventures taking up typical hipster hobbies such as starting an indie band, learning to ride a fixed-gear bicycle, getting a tattoo and taking instagram photos. In the end, Matt realises he is not cut out for being a hipster after feeling guilty about mocking deaf people at a bar for drinking apple rather than pear cider. (“Apple Cider is so 2010”)
Bondi Hipsters: The Life Organic is a satirical music video about the often nonchalant way in which hipsters adopt sustainable lifestyle trends like eating organic, gluten free foods, exercising fashionably and constantly feeling the need to document their social life online. Lyrics such as “we don’t shower cause it’s a waste of water, it makes you look cool like you don’t bother” are rapped to a catchy electro beat as comedians Don and Adrian dance and highlight the most absurd aspects of being a hipster.
Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilisation is a critic’s view on the rise of hipsterdom, describing it as a
shallow and artificial re-appropriation of older socially significant
counter-cultures such as beatniks, punks and revolutionary hippies. The article highlights that hipster fashion and culture is an inauthentic and apathetic
means of connecting with marginalised groups in society as opposed to engaging
passionately with real issues. Hipsters may wear a Che Guevara shirt
and spend more time partying or consuming than reflecting on the implications
of social justice.
How hipsters in the media
affect young people
Hipsters are stereotyped quite pejoratively
and satirically in the media. They are portrayed as being trendy but
trivially inauthentic, pretentious, apathetic, conceited and lacking
in substance. This may influence society to be cynical and pessimistic
about young people, and as a result refuse to take them seriously. Journalists
who write about hipsters often feel the need to be witty and astute with their
observations, even if it means accentuating the most detrimental aspects of the
subculture at the expense of acknowledging the positives, such as viewing it as
a stage of healthy youth experimentation. It's also helpful to keep in mind that
media portrayals of hipsterdom are primarily a caricature, and most young
people who share similar interests to hipsters don't necessarily fit the
negative stereotype. Understanding hipster culture can provide unique insight
into the minds of young people for concerned friends or family members hoping to establish
greater rapport with troubled youth.
And finally, Hipster Kitty poignantly sums up what I've been doing with my life since leaving TAFE.. I've thankfully never been accused of being a hipster, only "hip with my music taste", which basically means I win at life.
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