Hipsters
The Oxford dictionary defines a hipster as, “A person who follows the latest trends and fashions, especially those regarded as being outside the cultural mainstream.”1 Hipsterism has formed into a postmodern counter culture that thrives off of the belief of individuality whilst obsessing over ironic folk and indie music, vintage thrift shopping, and the sweet taste of mainstream StarBucks coffee. The origin of this culture was given birth to by an array of its counter-culture predecessors: emos, goths, hippies, techno, rockabillies and more. Hipsters utilise the postmodern aspect of deconstructing past vogue and becoming sceptical and critiquing it through ironic fashion. What is odd is that most people who ascribe to these cultural
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A post modernistic approach by hipsters is the acceptance of ethnical diversity despite the fact that an overwhelming amount of the population is predominantly made up of Caucasian members. However this issue transcends past ethnicity and into the matter of social status and class. The hipster trend not only has a preponderance of the Caucasian race, but those members, more often then not, descends from the middle class of society. The question of why this group of middle class youth wanted to escape their often comfortable surrounds and educated life becomes and underlying matter. As considered by Wilkins being part of the monotonous, modernistic, white middle-class closely compares to being “boring vanilla”3. The transformation of becoming a hipster coincides with what could be the suppressed desire to escape the intrinsic association of dull, un-cool, white middle class portrayal to something more independent and postmodern. That group of youth feel compelled to strive for a new, individual look. Borrowing from past trends and appropriating it to reveal and essence of what each member believes is a very independent sense of style and therefore also opinion. Their main goal: to detach themselves from the norm and western modernity whilst rejecting the institutional cooperate
The term hipster is a difficult, and contested term with dynamic and often ambiguous connotations. According to Ferrier (2014), what was once an umbrella term for a counter-culture of young creative types morphed into a pejorative term for people who looked, lived and acted a certain way. The Urban Dictionary
The 1950s saw a period of extensive contentment within postwar America. A majority of the population adapted to the modern suburban lifestyle that emerged within this time period. They bought houses, started families, got steady jobs, and watched the television while complacently submitting to the government. Although fairly monotonous, this sort of lifestyle was safe and secure many Americans were ready to sacrifice individuality for a sense of comfort. There was a minority, however, that did not quite accept this conservative conformity that had swept across the nation; some of these people took the shape of artists and writers.
What is a Hipster? Everyone knows a hipster when they see one; the clothes they wear, the music they listen to, the kind of car they drive – they stick out like a sore thumb. They seem to be everywhere nowadays, ever evolving in their characteristics and personalities in order to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to what is cool. Regardless of your personal perception of hipsters there is no denying that they are an interesting breed of human – one that our society is obsessed with, even if it is in a “Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter” kind of way.
Norman Mailer’s 1957 essay, titled “The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster”, traces the lineage of conformity (and, as a result, nonconformity) in American society post World War II, as well as the counter-cultural reaction of the time, the “white negro”.
These were three examples of the variations of the hippie aesthetics. This essay gave a look at different songs and how the fell into certain categories when determining if they were hippie aesthetics. They ranged from fully to none at all. This was a time in music where artists and bands were trying to find themselves and to not be part of the mainstreams. The hippie aesthetics involved individuals that were willing to take a chance and step outside the box. They were the risk taker of their time. The hippie aesthetics has influenced some of the music that you hear today and will continue to long into the future.
American society and culture experienced an awakening during the 1960s as a result of the diverse civil rights, economic, and political issues it was faced with. At the center of this revolution was the American hippie, the most peculiar and highly influential figure of the time period. Hippies were vital to the American counterculture, fueling a movement to expand awareness and stretch accepted values. The hippies’ solutions to the problems of institutionalized American society were to either participate in mass protests with their alternative lifestyles and radical beliefs or drop out of society completely. The government and the older generations could not understand their way of life.
Towards the end of the decade the Hippie movement had a huge impact on the way people started to view clothing. This group rebelled against war, encouraged peace and love. Their presence had a major influence on fashion. They opted for clothing that was natural and comfortable. Accessories w...
The article “From counterculture to Sixties Culture” clearly demonstrates that the hippie movement was not just founded on pure rebellion from what their parents had prescribed. The article reveals that the 60s culture was a product of many factors including the youths reaction to the Vietnam War, the outpouring of self expression on college campuses around the continent, the constantly dynamic civil rights, and especially the rejection of the counterculture by the mainstream society.
The term hipster was coined during the jazz age (1940s), when the term hip emerged as an adjective to describe enthusiasts of the growing music scene. The modern hipster is a composite of individuals with a certain bohemian, new-thinking lifestyle, as he or she rejects mainstream norms, and embraces and contributes to unconventional culture. Hipsters are a subculture of people that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and music, creativity, and intelligence. There are two sects of hipster: the authentic, indifferent hipster and the consumeristic hipster. One of the most prevalent ways of analyzing hipster, bohemian, and artistic identities is through consumeristic habits and ideologies.
During the sixties Americans saw the rise of the counterculture. The counterculture, which was a group of movements focused on achieving personal and cultural liberation, was embraced by the decade’s young Americans. Because many Americans were members of the different movements in the counterculture, the counterculture influenced American society. As a result of the achievements the counterculture movements made, the United States in the 1960s became a more open, more tolerant, and freer country.
Joseph Epstein’s “The Perpetual Adolescent” argues that the new norm in today’s society is to stay young for as long as possible rather than to continue on to adulthood. In Epstein’s point of view, this goes against human nature. Epstein points out many examples of the perpetual adolescent by explaining how staying young for as long as possible prohibits people from taken life seriously. This leads many people to postpone the important tasks of getting a job and getting married and to settle down in their own home. Epstein mentions that the creations of Rock n Roll, Catcher in the Rye, and even the election of our youngest President JFK has created a movement that has us trying to stay as young as possible for as long as possible. In his essay, Epstein argues that this movement to stay young has lowered society’s expectations and intelligence of the nation. Epstein tries to make the connection between how people dressed when he was young to how people dress in today’s society and how that is the reason for why people of
A Single Youth Culture Youth culture and youth subcultures have been a subject of research since the early 1930s. It is most certainly true today that there is not one singular youth culture but a variety of different youth subcultures. The 90's can not be described as the same as the 60's or 70's or even the 80's. There are many reasons put forward by sociologists for this such as there are more styles available today, media influences us more and there is a higher disposable income per household to spend on fashions. This paper will explore the reasons behind the existence of youth cultures in previous years and why the same format has not occured in the 1990's.
Being a hippie was more than just a fashion statement it was a new way of life that was introduced in the 60’s. Some major changes in the 60s was the uses of drugs such as Marijuana and LSD used by the hippies. Along with the drug use that hippies commonly used was the new fashion trends. All of the sudden young men started to grow beards, and let their hair grow down past their shoulders. Then women started dressing in Psychedelic colors and were dressing in ways nobody ever has seen. Then once the crazy astounding hippie style emerged men and women started to wear bell bottom jeans, tie dye shirts, headbands, and sandals. At times men and women would even go barefoot, some women would even go braless! Some other hippie styles that were common were fringed buckskins, vests, caftans, mexican peasant blouses and gypsy style skirts was what most women commonly dressed like. Although for other conservative hippie styles there was more of a lounging type of style such as men and women wearing pajamas with a tunic top of some sort.
The Hippie Movement changed the politics and the culture in America in the 1960s. When the nineteen fifties turned into the nineteen sixties, not much had changed, people were still extremely patriotic, the society of America seemed to work together, and the youth of America did not have much to worry about, except for how fast their car went or what kind of outfit they should wear to the Prom. After 1963, things started to slowly change in how America viewed its politics, culture, and social beliefs, and the group that was in charge of this change seemed to be the youth of America. The Civil Rights Movement, President Kennedy’s death, new music, the birth control pill, the growing illegal drug market, and the Vietnam War seemed to blend together to form a new counterculture in America, the hippie.
The sixties was a decade of liberation and revolution, a time of great change and exciting exploration for the generations to come. It was a time of anti-war protests, free love, sit-ins, naked hippie chicks and mind-altering drugs. In big cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Paris, there was a passionate exchange of ideas, fiery protests against the Vietnam War, and a time for love, peace and equality. The coming together of like-minded people from around the world was spontaneous and unstoppable. This group of people, which included writers, musicians, thinkers and tokers, came to be known as the popular counterculture, better known as hippies. The dawning of the Age of Aquarius in the late sixties was more than just a musical orgy. It was a time of spiritual missions to fight for change and everything they believed in. Freedom, love, justice, equality and peace were at the very forefront of this movement (West, 2008). Some wore beads. Some had long hair. Some wore tie-dye and others wore turtle-neck sweaters. The Hippie generation was a wild bunch, to say the least, that opened the cookie jar of possibilities politically, sexually, spiritually and socially to forever be known as one of the most memorable social movements of all time (Hippie Generation, 2003).