Last night my boyfriend called me a hipster. Well, kinda. He said the one thing that differentiates me from hipsters is that I shower regularly! I work at a students’ union, so I see hipsters everyday and reckon I see more of them that what he does and I ain’t no hipster! To most people, being called a geek is an insult but I take it as a compliment. So can you imagine how I feel about the hipster label?
The lady doth protest, so I challenged him to list the things that make me a hipster. He reckoned it would be easier to note the few differences, the others being wearing headphones as a fashion statement and liking obscure music.
I got to thinking about what classifies someone as a hipster and whether or not people consider it a derogatory term. So I Googled ‘what is a hipster?’ and came up with the following:
1. a person who follows the latest trends and fashions.
To be fair, I follow them in that I subscribe to a few mags and read some blogs but my life doesn’t revolve around them and I don’t have to own the current must-have items.
And what does someone do when they find an answer they don’t want? They look for another one! According to dictionary.com, a hipster is ‘a person, especially during the 1950s, characterized by a particularly strong sense of alienation from most established social activities and relationships.’ Hang on a minute, that’s the complete opposite!
Urban Dictionary has quite a long definition, key points being young people in their 20s/30s (check), ‘appreciation of creativity, intelligence and witty banter’ (well that’s just common sense!), can often be seen wearing tight jeans and thick-rimmed glasses (uh-oh…), well-educated (but of course!)… Oh, here we go: ”It is part of the hipster central dogma not to be influenced by mainstream advertising and media.’ I am totally influenced by advertising and the mass media! In fact, said boyfriend once claimed that all someone has to do is pretty up some packaging and I’ll want to buy it. Guilty as charged.
WikiHow lists five ways to be a hipster and in the hipster entertainment section, it says watch Wes Anderson films. Woah woah woah! I love this guy! Maybe the boyfriend is onto something… Another way is to use social media – who doesn’t?! I’m not gonna give you that one, WikiHow!
Elephant Journal has an article called ‘ten signs you’re a hipster‘. Point number ten?
10. You deny being a hipster.
Your denial of being a true hipster involves saying “even though I…” many times.
My ‘even though I…’s…
- like owls (according to the boyfriend, hipsters love owls and other such cute woodland creatures)
- wear large-framed glasses (I actually need to wear glasses, so this is totally allowed)
- wear skinny jeans
- use Instagram (for work purposes though!)
- (want/try to) grow my own
- like things with moustaches on
- like men with beards
So what do you reckon? What makes someone a hipster? Do you think you’re a hipster? Do others refer to you as one? Do you consider it an insult or a compliment? Leave me a comment below.
Reblogged this on smallchurch4kids and commented:
Being a hipster is too comercial these days..
This post is ace LOL! You can’t be a hipster as you have a sense of humour that isn’t at all ‘awkward’. It would seem a hipster is a rebellious punk that has gotten rather lost and does follow trends and fashion as long as it’s non-mainstream and rather twee or esoteric. Proud geeks unite!
Haha thanks 🙂