# So what is a hipster exactly? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226 "2011-10-20T07:28:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/1 "2011-10-20T07:28:04Z")
I see when people post pics of hipsters, they show these pretty ridiculous looking people wearing ridiculous clothes example : [Being a Dickhead's Cool - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVmmYMwFj1I) I often see these people when i go to the hipster neighborhoods here. But I also see not-so-outlandish-looking people but still kind of artsy looking who frequent the same cafes, concerts and shows, art galleries, boutique design and clothing stores etc and consume the same media. Are these people still hipsters? I mean look at Zooey Deschanel. People call her a hipster but she doesn’t dress like those guys (other than the occasional large glasses maybe). Or Michael Cera. He looks nothing like them yet hipster is the first word people associate with him. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/2 "2011-10-20T08:05:25Z")
Did a hipster frighten your Mum when she was carrying you or something? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/3 "2011-10-20T08:36:08Z")
These are the kind of people who sport a “cool nerd” look. The people who ironically wear cartoon watches from Burger King kids meals. When they list their favorite bands it’ll be a bunch of indie “underground” groups that you’ve never heard of and probably suck. If, on the off chance they mention a mainstream group, they’ll be sure to let you know that they liked them before they became popular. They’ll sometimes wear earthy pseudo-hippie clothing and there’s a strong chance they’re vegetarians or eat organic food. Most of them own Macs and there’s a good chance they love coffee (any teenager who loves coffee is almost certainly a hipster). They wear glasses even when they don’t need them. They smoke clove cigarettes. They love art. They love Rocky Horror Picture Show. They frequently talk about how much America sucks. They “don’t watch TV.” They travel the world (or at least claim that they will). They’re frequently polyamorous. They’re often from wealthy homes. Hipsters will never admit to being hipsters and they’ll claim to hate hipsters just like everyone else. Like in the two other most hated groups, emos and weaboos, there are different subcategories. You don’t have to possess all of the above qualities to be a hipster. But the more of the above you possess the more likely you are to be a hipster. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/4 "2011-10-20T08:45:55Z")
You didn’t even answer the questions I had in the post. Are they really hated? If they’re so hated, why are they all over media? I’ve started watching Parenthood and the kids on that show are hipsters. And lots of commercials have indie music. For example, check out this hipster Subaru commercial : [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysfunNlHTbw) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/5 "2011-10-20T09:00:37Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > Are they really hated? Yes. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_(contemporary_subculture)): > [@Wikipedia on Hipsters (the contemporary subculture)](#): > > Time writer Dan Fletcher states that “Hipsters manage to attract a loathing unique in its intensity. … Critics have described the loosely defined group as smug, full of contradictions and, ultimately, the dead end of Western civilization.” > [@](#): > > Elise Thompson, an editor for the LA blog LAist argues that “people who came of age in the 70s and 80s punk rock movement seem to universally hate ‘hipsters’,” which she defines as people wearing “expensive ‘alternative’ fashion[s],” going to the “latest, coolest, hippest bar…[and] listen[ing] to the latest, coolest, hippest band.” Thompson argues that hipsters “don’t seem to subscribe to any particular philosophy … [or] … particular genre of music.” Instead, she argues that they are “soldiers of fortune of style” who take up whatever is popular and in style, “appropriat[ing] the style[s]” of past countercultural movements such as punk, while “discard[ing] everything that the style stood for.” > [@](#): > > … people who are ostensibly fitting the hipster stereotype profusely deny being one: hipster mythology devaluates their tastes and interests and thus they have to socially distinguish themselves from this cultural category and defend their tastes from devaluation. To succeed in denying being a hipster, while looking, acting, and consuming like one, these individuals demythologize their existing consumption practices by engaging in rhetorics and practices that symbolically differentiate their actions from the hipster stigma. > [@GM](#): > > If they’re so hated, why are they all over media? I’ve started watching Parenthood and the kids on that show are hipsters. And lots of commercials have indie music. That’s like saying “if people hate weaboos why is Japanese shit so popular in the United States?” Because it’s catered towards the weaboos themselves. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/6 "2011-10-20T09:07:29Z")
so why do celebrities like to hang out or live in hipster neighborhoods? I’ve noticed this from reading celeb blogs. _Known as “The Williamsburg of the West,” Silver Lake has been home to many famous musicians, artists and hipster elite a la Katy Perry, Beck and Tom Waits, much like its Brooklyn counterpart…_ Other actors who live there are Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ryan Gosling, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Donald Glover, etc Are most young actors nowadays hipsters? [![](http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/10100000/Out-in-Silver-Lake-CA-26-01-joe-jonas-10121723-375-512.jpg) ](http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/10100000/Out-in-Silver-Lake-CA-26-01-joe-jonas-10121723-375-512.jpg) [http://vpqv.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/46.jpg](http://vpqv.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/46.jpg) (kirsten dunst) [http://pics.livejournal.com/uluviel/pic/00015ccb/s640x480](http://pics.livejournal.com/uluviel/pic/00015ccb/s640x480) [http://pics.livejournal.com/uluviel/pic/0001hp84/s640x480](http://pics.livejournal.com/uluviel/pic/0001hp84/s640x480) [http://kathleenpapp.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/january-jones-06142011-2.jpg](http://kathleenpapp.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/january-jones-06142011-2.jpg) [http://celebrityphotos.sheknows.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/03/natalie-portman.jpg](http://celebrityphotos.sheknows.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/03/natalie-portman.jpg) do they enjoy the trendy bars, cafes, boutiques, galleries, etc also? ---
**Author:** ![raskolnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@raskolnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raskolnik)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/7 "2011-10-20T09:13:38Z")
-i think the ‘ironic’ label is the key point. Not liking or liking anything because of what it is but liking or not liking something because it is supposed to be liked or not liked. -In other words a hipster wears a keyffiya just because other hipsters do. It has nothing to do with the PLA. -Oh and the PBR thing is just WRONG. It’s a really really BAD beer. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/8 "2011-10-20T09:18:28Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > so why do celebrities like to hang out or live in hipster neighborhoods? … because a great number of them are hipsters? I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. > [@GovernmentMan](#): > > Are most young actors nowadays hipsters? Sure, probably. High school drama clubs and college theater classes are putrid hipster breeding grounds. I recommend burning the hives like in _District 9_. A few innocents might be killed but I think we can all agree that it’s worth it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/9 "2011-10-20T09:23:55Z")
Give it a rest will you. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/10 "2011-10-20T09:26:45Z")
Hey! I actually like PBR! I’m glad they sell it really cheap too, for when I’m in the mood for macrolager. I usually drink at brewpubs. And I smoke American Spirits sometimes. And I like TED Conferences. And I live in Portland. You know what? I’m going to shut up now. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/11 "2011-10-20T09:33:59Z")
Pretty much every college educated person under 30 or at least 25 in the western world has some element of hipsterism in them. The main part of it that attracts ire seems to be the peacockish male styles involved. Outlandish hair (head and facial), big shades or spectacles, stupid hats, bright colours. It all is about drawing attention to yourself. And if you’re drawing attention to you, then it’s taking it away from me. One of the nicer elements of the culture is that it is unashamedly middle-brow. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/12 "2011-10-20T10:04:32Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > … because a great number of them are hipsters? I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. > > Sure, probably. High school drama clubs and college theater classes are putrid hipster breeding grounds. I recommend burning the hives like in _District 9_. A few innocents might be killed but I think we can all agree that it’s worth it. Yeah, but which do you hate more, weaboos or hipsters? To put it in concrete terms, if there were a weaboo-con and a hipster happening and you only had one nerve agent bomb, how would you allocate it? ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/13 "2011-10-20T11:03:06Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > … because a great number of them are hipsters? I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. > > Sure, probably. High school drama clubs and college theater classes are putrid hipster breeding grounds. I recommend burning the hives like in _District 9_. A few innocents might be killed but I think we can all agree that it’s worth it. Wow why the hate? I understand the ultra outlandish like the ones who wear tank tops, cutoff jeans, mustache types, but why hate on guys like Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman? or girls like these : https://www.youtube.com/embed/83TC71jDoWw?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque https://www.youtube.com/embed/v3rdNzVqF7Y?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/14 "2011-10-20T11:16:51Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > To put it in concrete terms, if there were a weaboo-con and a hipster happening and you only had one nerve agent bomb, how would you allocate it? Aaauurggh. Tough question. I think I’d have to bomb the con. I mean the hipster threat may be an insidious one, but who knows how many Naruto headband-wearing Japanophiles might be in the convention center? I couldn’t in good conscience pass up such an opportunity. But rest assured that the death camps will have ample room for both. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/15 "2011-10-20T11:37:04Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Aaauurggh. Tough question. > > I think I’d have to bomb the con. I mean the hipster threat may be an insidious one, but who knows how many Naruto headband-wearing Japanophiles might be in the convention center? I couldn’t in good conscience pass up such an opportunity. But rest assured that the death camps will have ample room for both. I just checked some of your old threads, and you listed Where The Wild Things Are as one of the greatest movie trailers you’ve seen. Kinda hypocritical don’t you think? That movie trailer (and the movie I’m guessing. I haven’t seen it) is like hipster from head to toe. The hipster-like gauzy cinematography, the Arcade Fire music blasting in the trailer, directed by cool kid auteur Spike Jonze, written by king of the literary hipsters Dave Eggers, etc ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/16 "2011-10-20T11:48:17Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > I just checked some of your old threads, and you listed Where The Wild Things Are as one of the greatest movie trailers you’ve seen. I also like pokemon, despite hating weaboos. It’s the difference between liking pokemon and going to conventions dressed as bulbasaur. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/17 "2011-10-20T11:51:52Z")
A hipster owes everything they are and everything they can do to everything they are not. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/18 "2011-10-20T12:10:27Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Pretty much every college educated person under 30 or at least 25 in the western world has some element of hipsterism in them. This. The hipster lifestyle covers such a broad swath of pop culture that it’s impossible not to identify with some aspects of it. Especially if you’re young and live in a city. For example, I hate fixxies and guys who wear stupid hats. I hate shitty indy rock and PBR. But I like Dave Eggers, Spike Jonze, good coffee, and mainstream hipster music (but I only start liking it after it becomes popular. I almost feel like simply recognizing that Community is a much better show than Two and a Half Men is hipster behavior, because it involves identifying something of quality and deriding something else. I often self-identify as a hipster, and on certain days you’d call me one just by looking at me. But I also sometimes non-ironically watch NASCAR while wearing an oil-stained t-shirt and eating a whole bag of spicy doritos while drinking a normal beer that is neither ironically hip nor impossibly microbrewed. On those days, I feel free to make fun of hipsters like everyone else. But if you offered to watch my kids so I could go to an Arcade Fire concert, I’d put on hipster shoes and skip off to the show. ---
**Author:** ![raskolnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@raskolnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raskolnik)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/19 "2011-10-20T13:31:37Z")
PBR has no special features. It is a blyat beer for bad people. Nobody with taste could drink it. The idea the east coast bars consume PBR is just wrong. PBR has no reason to exist, escept as a direct competitor to steel reserve and natty ice. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226/20 "2011-10-20T13:44:37Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > why hate on guys like Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman? Natalie Portman is not a guy. The boobs are a dead giveaway. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-a-hipster-exactly/600226.md?page=2)