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Joelle Khouri

Ben Henderson

CAS 137H

29 October 2013

Who’s the Hipster Now?

There is perhaps no word that will more quickly inspire mocking in today’s youth

than “hipster.” Yet the ridicule seems to stem partly from the fact that the term, and what

it stands for, is unavoidable. Today, we are surrounded by mentions of hipsters—on

blogs, in videos, and in everyday speech. Furthermore, it is easy to act like a hipster.

Obscure music can be found on the internet from the comfort of one’s own chair. Hipster

fashion has been commercialized and is now readily available in chain stores. This

phenomenon has led to a rise of faux, mainstream hipsters, which in turn led to an overall

disdain for hipsters in general. The commercialization, however, was borne out of

demand; somewhere along the way, hipsters became cool. People wanted to act like

hipsters, and companies and popular culture responded to this demand. The hipster’s

ironic rise to mainstream culture due to the mass appeal of its values also served as its

downfall, as a major tenet of hipsterdom is the rejection of all things mainstream.

The definition of “hipster” seems vague, almost stereotypically so. But is the

hipster truly undefinable? As much as stereotypes—and even hipsters themselves—

would suggest so, Mark Greif, co-editor of the magazine n+1, believes otherwise. In his

article, “What Was the Hipster,” published in the magazine New York, Greif argues, “We

do know what hipster means—or at least we should. The term has always possessed

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adequately lucid definitions; they just happen to be multiple. If we refuse to enunciate

them, it may be because everyone affiliated with the term has a stake in keeping it

murky” (Greif 1). Even if Greif is correct in stating the hipster has already been

extensively defined, he himself also points out that multiple definitions exist. According

to the most popular definition on Urban Dictionary, for example, “Hipsters are a

subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's [who] value independent

thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock,

creativity, intelligence, and witty banter” (Parasuco). On the other hand, Merriam-

Webster defines a hipster as “a person who follows the latest styles, fashions, etc.,” which

seems contradictory to the former definition (“Hipster,” Merriam-Webster). The Oxford

English Dictionary makes no mention of the contemporary use of the term, including

only a definition of the 1940s hipster (“Hipster,” OED Online). Though the definition

from Urban Dictionary probably serves as an accurate connotation of the term by the

standards of today’s youth, the vagueness of the word in general only serves to fuel the

public’s discontent.

There have always been subcultures, groups of people whose ideals vary from the

norm. Prominent American subcultures include the hipsters of the 1940s, the Beat

generation of the 1950s, the Hippie movement in the 1960s, and the punks in the mid-

1970s. Today’s eminent countercultural movement is the contemporary hipster—not to

be confused with the jazz-influenced hipster of the forties. The contemporary hipster

movement, which contains elements of the aforementioned subcultures, was born from

the alternative youth culture of the nineties, emerging specifically in 1999 (Greif 1).

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Though the hipster subculture is currently in an undeniable state of decline, it is hard to

pinpoint when, exactly, it reached its peak. Since the hipster movement is contemporary,

relatively few academic analyses of this subculture have been published. According to

Google Trends, which shows search frequency over time, the term “hipster subculture”

did not register significantly until the fall of 2011 (Google Trends “Hipster Subculture”).

The term “hipster” seems to have peaked in early 2013 (Google Trends “Hipster”).

Interest was uniformly low until 2008, when it began to steadily rise. The rise in interest

in hipsters has an inverse correlation with the dominance of the subculture, since the

more people who strive to be anti-mainstream exist, the more mainstream they become.

Therefore, an appropriate hypothesis could be that the hipster subculture peaked in the

early 2000s, after which time it began to crumble under the strain of public interest and

acceptance.

It is important to note the distinction between the mainstream “hipster” who does

hipster things because these things are considered cool, and the authentic hipster, who not

only does hipster things but actually is a hipster. This hipster does not care about

society’s opinion of him. For many of these people, being a hipster is a way to show

individuality. Sophie Bot, author of The Hipster Effect: How the Rising Tide of

Individuality is Changing Everything We Know about Life, Work and the Pursuit of

Happiness, describes her foray into hipsterdom as a way to “[enjoy] a freedom that had

previously been denied to [her]” by her structured life (Bot 1). Growing up, Bot had felt

pressured by her parents and her peers around her to act a certain way and to strive for

certain things. In the hipster aesthetic, she saw “an opportunity to express [herself] in a

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way that [she] had never previously been allowed” (Bot 1). The hipster movement grew

out of communities of young, artistic individuals who chose to express themselves in a

very specific aesthetic manner.

Though the hipster subculture existed as a rather limited movement for several

years, it eventually began to gain traction when many young people decided that the

ideals of hipsters—individuality, nonchalance—appealed to them. Therefore, they began

adopting hipster traits. It became cool to listen to obscure music and to wear vintage

shirts. They were aided by technology because, “Now, in order to be exposed to

something new and artsy, you don’t have to go down to some smoky Greenwich Village

cafe or SoCal commune. You can just go on Tumblr” (Del Valle). As youth’s interest in

the subculture grew, so too did the commercial aspects. Clothing companies such as

American Apparel and Urban Outfitters were quick to jump on the bandwagon. They

began mass-producing imitations of what had become the hipster’s signature look

—“vintage” T-shirts, skinny jeans, thick-framed glasses. As this signature look spread, it

became less unique. In his book, An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular

Culture, published in 1993, John Storey explains this notion generally by saying youth

cultures “always move from originality and opposition to commercial incorporation and

ideological diffusion as the culture industries eventually succeed in marketing subcultural

resistance for general consumption and profit” (81). The hipster subculture has reached

the stage of general consumption. Though “hipsters” exist in numbers greater than ever

before, the values of the subculture have been tainted.

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The hipster subculture can only survive as such: a subculture. Specifically, it

functions best as a limited subculture—perhaps “counterculture” is a more appropriate

term, though there are some, like Greif, who do not believe hipsters constitute a

counterculture (Greif 4). Regardless, in having gained a mainstream following, the

hipster subculture doomed itself. The more people take notice of hipsters, the less

effective their attempt at individuality and authenticity becomes. Blessilde Limoso

describes this “hipster paradox”— mainstream interest in an inherently antimainstream

movement—with disdain, noting, “In place of a generation of like-minded individuals is

an army of countercultural clones geared toward the sole purpose of defying conventions

simply for the sake of doing so” (Limoso 1). Greif sees it similarly. In the compilation

entitled What Was the Hipster? A Sociological Investigation, he suggests that “the reason

the attribution of hipsterness is always pejorative is that “hipster” is actually identifying

today a subculture of people who are already dominant” (Greif, Ross, and Tororici 9).

This idea corresponds to the mainstream hipsters and Limoso’s “countercultural clones.”

So many people are now identifying as hipsters that the “subculture” is in fact a dominant

force.

A part of the hipster’s decline—although whether it is a cause or a consequence is

hard to determine—has been vilification of hipsters. As one magazine article puts it,

“Hipsters manage to attract a loathing unique in its intensity” (Fletcher 1). Hipsters’

expression of independence has clashed with general society, partly because there is

inherent in the hipster tradition a sense that hipsters strive to be “hipper than thou” (Greif

2). This is not actually the case; it is not that hipsters think they are better than others, but

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that they do not care what others think of them. This nonchalance, however, can be—and

is—perceived as arrogance. It is possible that the negative connotation associated with

hipsters led to the decline of the hipster. It is also possible that the hipster’s entrance to

the mainstream led to a certain hate for hipsters. It is more likely, however, that the

negative connotation developed in conjunction with the rise in popularity: as hipster

values became more well-known and more widely embraced, the hipster subculture

became less authentic and therefore more open to mocking. This theory correlates with

Greif’s and Limoso’s aforementioned ideas of popularity ruining the authenticity of the

cause. Furthermore, as mentioned previously, another part of the problem lies in the fact

that no one knows who, exactly, hipsters are. The label is being used broadly to describe

such a range of things that ambiguity is rife. Some people take the fact that no one, not

even hipsters themselves, seems to be able to describe what a hipster as an indication that

the entire subculture is a joke. However, the widespread mockery is somewhat ironic in

that hipster traits are also incredibly widespread; the hatred of hipsters does not change

the fact that hipster are now more popular than ever.

When youth began to adopt the hipster’s “cool” expressions of individuality, these

expressions became less individual and more mainstream. As such, the hipster subculture

lost its basis. Now, “The hipster is that person, overlapping with the intentional dropout

or the unintentionally declassed individual…who in fact aligns himself both with rebel

subculture and with the dominant class, and thus opens up a poisonous conduit between

the two” (Greif, Ross, and Tororici 9). From humble beginnings, the hipster subculture

gained popularity—and at the same time, paradoxically poisoned itself—to the point

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where it is now in decline. The time of the hipster is over, leaving only one question:

what will be next?

Words: 1682

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Works Cited

Bot, Sophie. "A new definition of hipster." The Hipster Effect. N.p., 02 Apr 2012. Web.

23 Oct. 2013.

Del Valle, Rachel. "Hipster goes mainstream." Daily Pennsylvanian [Philadelphia] 25

Feb 2011, n. pag. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

Fletcher, Dan. "Hipster Subculture Ripe for Parody." Time. 29 Jul 2009: n. page. Web. 29

Oct. 2013.

Greif, Mark. "What Was The Hipster." New York. 24 Oct 2010: n. page. Web. 22 Oct.

2013.

Greif, Mark, Kathleen Ross, and Dayna Tortorici. What Was the Hipster? A Sociological

Investigation. 3rd ed. New York: n 1 Foundation, 2010. Print.

“Hipster.” Graph. Google Trends. Web. 28 Oct 2013.

<http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=hipster&cmpt=q>

“Hipster.” Def. 1. Merriam-Webster Online. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

“Hipster.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2013. Web. 23 October

2013.

“Hipster subculture.” Graph. Google Trends. Web. 28 Oct 2013.

<http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=hipster%20subculture&cmpt=q>

Limoso, Blessilde. "The hipster revolution." Philippine Daily Inquirer 28 Oct 2013, n.

pag. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

Parasuco, Trey. “Hipster.” Def. 1. Urban Dictionary, 22 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

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Storey, John. An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. New York:

Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993. Print.