Hipsterism: Since When Did It Become Cool to Look Homeless?

• Article by Mitch Barnett
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• February 17, 2012
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• Western Michigan

As I walk around campus every day I can’t help but think, “What is happening to our generation?” What I see is a group of people not creating their own style or culture, but mirroring subcultures of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s hippies, rockers, and punks.

The only definite thing that I’ve come to find about these “hipsters” is that nobody wants to be one, even them. These people are truly self-loathing bums. It might sound strange, but it seems hipsters hate hipsters more than they hate anyone else. Calling someone a "hipster" has become one of the worst insults you can bestow upon somebody. If you want to completely discredit someone and everything they stand for, just break out the H-word and watch their credibility go down the drain. Once you’ve been dubbed a hipster, you become meaningless. Even worse, you instantly become that guy.

The thing is, I don’t know what specifically bothers me the most about ‘them.’ It’s not just one thing, but a collection of annoyances. It’s their food, their music and sense of entitlement. It’s also the most physically noticeable aspect, the way they dress. Most days I don’t know if these people are actually in my class or if I should give them the loose change in my pocket.

Every day when I see these people, I can’t help but think that they look homeless. They wear raggy pants, old 1990s trench coats and hats so large that sometimes I can’t tell if it’s actually a hat or just a really large sock. I mean, since when did it become cool to purposely appear homeless on a regular basis?

In hipsterism, they always eat organically. They shop at Whole Foods and eat locally grown corn, or so they say. They are always talking about how they are not just vegetarian, but are vegan, which is like a whole lot better for you and it totally saves more animals, and I just don’t care.

The music is another thing that really grinds my gears. People involved with hipsterism will like a band and talk them up so much until I can’t stand it any more. They judge bands based off of what it says on Pitchfork and then stop following them as soon as they hear it on the radio. And I always thought the point of liking a band was to follow them and learn everything you can about them.

The thing that probably bothers me the most out of all of these annoyances is the hipsters’ sense of self entitlement. They think they are suffering so much, but shopping at Goodwill just to have the appearance and driving around in your nice fancy car is pretty contradicting.

After having watched and researched hipsters, I’ve created my own definition. Hipsterism is a subculture of relatively young middle class students and older teens who are mostly interested in independent films, older clothing styles, and Pitchfork media. And they also share a sincere passion for throwing their obscure knowledge in your face. What a group of cool dudes.