Help me define the term hipster

[unicron44]

My dad was reading a magazine at Borders and he read something about hipsters. He asked me what it was and I couldn't tell him. I could only give him examples.

I said it's people who where knit caps in summer and where Che shirts even if they don't know who he is.

 

[zen5887]

http://stuffhipstershate.tumblr.com/

Its easier to list the things Hipsters hate.

Hipsters are pretty rad anyways.

 

[AnOriginalConcept]

I suggest Urban Dictionary:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hipster

I found this definition amusing:
"One who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed cool by the cool. (Note: it is no longer recommended that one use the term "cool"; a Hipster would instead say "deck.") The Hipster walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them and shuns or reduces to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream. A Hipster ideally possesses no more than 2% body fat.

-The Hipster Handbook, Robert Lanham
Typically a Hipster can be identified by vintage or thrift-store bougt clothing, a taste for obscure or underground music, a penchant for irony and an elitist attitude."

 

[Krythe]

Encyclopedia Dramatica's article is 100% accurate.
Look them up there - I'd link but the escapist never wants to register the hyperlinks to them.

 

[mr_rubino]

Easy. It's "staticstaticstatic random apparently obscure band staticstaticstatic ironic staticstaticstatic Pabst Blue Ribbon staticstaticstatic not even trying to mask the fact it's pure projection by people attempting to cast themselves as intellectually superior to another group based on what they wear, do, and think lolomg how ironic."

 

[likalaruku]

Someone told me that a hipster was a "Yuppie without any money," to which I responed "What's a yuppie?"

 

[Manicotti]

Encyclopedia Dramatica's article is 100% accurate.
Look them up there - I'd link but the escapist never wants to register the hyperlinks to them.

This. I think this is one of the only articles on ED where it DOESN'T exaggerate.

 

[rabidmidget]

They have taken over the role of sub-culture punching bags from emos, the stereotypes describe them as people who reject conformity (in fashion, politics, music, etc), by achieving an image associated with hipsters (aka conforming).

Mind you, I'm referring to the stereotype here, most hipsters are probably just people who fit into one of the many categories used to describe hipsters and are therefore labeled as such.

EDIT: Also read this, it's hilarious http://hipsterhitler.com/

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm surprised nobody's used this yet.

 

[burningdragoon]

I think shortest definition I can give is: counter-culture for the sake of counter-culture

 

[vento 231]

The definition is complex, you wouldn't understand.

 

[Altorin]

Hipsters are people who do things IRONICALLY

They're people who wear shitty clothes and listen to shitty music BECAUSE its shitty, and they're making a statement that they get the joke. Interestingly, now that I think about it, Heath Ledgers take on the joker was very "hipster". He does crazy evil things because the status quo of the whole world, to him, seems like a giant joke, and he's telling the world that he gets it.

which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't act like such tossers most of the time.

 

[Something Amyss]

-The Hipster Handbook, Robert Lanham
Typically a Hipster can be identified by vintage or thrift-store bougt clothing, a taste for obscure or underground music, a penchant for irony and an elitist attitude."

Woohoo! I'm a hipster!

Wait, I don't have the irony thing.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

snip

From my facebook:

[Name here] wonders if "hipster" is just a term for someone who shops at a different second-hand store, listens to different non-chart music, dabbles in a different set of creative pursuits, is slightly more concerned than average about a different set of social and political issues, and drinks a different brand of cheap brew than you do.

People clique. People like hanging out with people who have similar interests. You're going to see young, self-seeking people in groups that have similar tastes. They're not "hipsters" any more than most hipster-accusers.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

-The Hipster Handbook, Robert Lanham
Typically a Hipster can be identified by vintage or thrift-store bougt clothing, a taste for obscure or underground music, a penchant for irony and an elitist attitude."

Woohoo! I'm a hipster!

Wait, I don't have the irony thing.

Technically neither do hipsters, as they almost universally misapply the concept of irony to things that are not actually ironic. What they actually have is a penchant for saying that things are ironic (but they probably aren't).

 

[Something Amyss]

Technically neither do hipsters, as they almost universally misapply the concept of irony to things that are not actually ironic. What they actually have is a penchant for saying that things are ironic (but they probably aren't).

How Ironic! >.>

But yeah, seriously, I knew the diference. There's a lot of "I appreciate X ironically" going round.