for me, man.
This is not me denying that I have hipster qualities, because, let's face it, I do.
"Hipsters are the friends who sneer when you cop to liking Coldplay. They're the people who wear t-shirts silk-screened with quotes from movies you've never heard of and the only ones in America who still think Pabst Blue Ribbon is a good beer. They sport cowboy hats and berets and think Kanye West stole their sunglasses. Everything about them is exactingly constructed to give off the vibe that they just don't care."
— Time, July 2009
Here's what I think.
"Hipsters" are okay, until they become exactly what they don't want to be. Arrogant and overzealous about their tastes in whatever the topic of discussion may be. At the core, they don't want to care, but then you're caring about being seen as not caring. The only true "hipsters" are those ones who honestly never meant to be, and there are not too many. Jack Kerouac led the sort of revolution that began in the 1940's and 1950's, and it was brought back today to describe a kaleidoscopic subculture, because they needed a nicer name than the what-I-think-is-significantly-better-than-what-you-think's.
There lies my only problem with being referred to as "hip," because I am able to respect the choices of others and take influences from different cultures and grow from them. Because I wear certain clothes, listen to certain bands, or ride a fucking fixed-gear bike, does that make me someone different than I have always been? Not until I start to judge other people who wear certain clothes, listen to certain bands, or drive a van. Then I become someone different, and then I become fully encompassed in a lifestyle of irony.
I would rather just be a person who can, at the least, tolerate your views and opinions without imposing my own on top of them.
I'll listen to Coldplay when I please, because they're talented and make me feel things. I'll wear the shirts I made because I'm proud of them, and I'll watch the movies that hold my attention. I'll drink my PBR because it's what's at the party, knowing that it's the equivalent to cardboard flavored fizzy water. I will wear whatever hat keeps the sun out of my eyes or the cold from my ears. I have no idea what kind of sunglasses Kanye West wears, and he surely didn't steal mine, because they're in my bag right now. I certainly don't fit the mold entirely, but there's no question that I have my moments.
Overall, there is a significant piece of the culture that deals directly with a lack of respect for anyone but themselves, and that is the part I don't wish to be associated with.
You call it irony, I call it hypocrisy.
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