Antwon Mitchell
Banned
That shyt did not start in Brooklyn. Now I see why OP is called a shyt poster...posts nothing but shyt 24hrs a day.
A lot of the alt-right/modern fascism started from the Brooklyn Hipster scene
- Thread starter ☑︎#VoteDemocrat
- Start date
Don't forget Trump's executive order on "classical architecture"Stoicism
Marcus Aurelius
alexander the great
I mean it starts when you're drinking the beers of decades past...you know... to be edgy
then its the flannel and the ironic lumberjack/rockabilly 50's dress
then its the "lets all act like them... you know... for posterity..."
Then its well culture did that so lets do that...
then its "well look who did all this stuff...isn't it cooler than this weird shyt we have today?"
...and you're off to the races
All the ironic mustaches and the retro music and the lore of "conquering" and
I didn't say ALL of it. I said "A lot" of it.
Of course we know the online aspects. And white supremacy isn't new. I'm talking about the modern wave of the last decade.
I'm talking a specific niche of retro-wave aesthetic you see commonly associated with hipsters in the northeast, especially NYC.
A LOT of it goes back to Gavin and that sort of slumming bullshyt he and his ilk popularized and led off the cliff.
Theres a reason the Proud Boys started in NYC and what they look like and how they networked initially.
I mean look at the hipster haircuts...then look at this sudden embrace of the fascist ones 
This shyt isn't some coincidence
High-and-Tight Haircut Adopted by Neo-Nazis - The 'Hitler Youth' Haircut Is Now Popular with White Supremacists
This shyt isn't some coincidence
High-and-Tight Haircut Adopted by Neo-Nazis - The 'Hitler Youth' Haircut Is Now Popular with White Supremacists
bytch ass cac better stay in park slope... no fly zone in the east and the heights
Low End Derrick
Veteran
Nope
It started from 4ch*n
It started from 4ch*n
Did yall forget a lot of that Steampunk movement???
Conservatism for Cool Kids: Why Hipsters Aren’t as Liberal as You Think
Conservatism for Cool Kids: Why Hipsters Aren’t as Liberal as You Think
Photo by Toa Heftiba
I can’t help but notice them daily. Their vintage flannels infiltrate my eyes; their scent of beard shampoo floods my nostrils. I entertain the thought that there must be a Conference for Skinny Lumberjacks in town — what else could account for the city’s man-bun inundation? The idea seems reasonable until I concur that they are either inefficient tree-cutters or lumberjacks who forgot to adjourn their [fair trade, sustainably sourced] coffee break.
Hipsters have been popping up in gentrified neighbourhoods since the 1990s and have been steadily growing into a significant subculture in many Western countries. Though the term ‘hipster’ is often used as a pejorative to deride the hyper-niche obsessions of millennials, this dismissal is a lost opportunity for societal critique. Hipsters can teach us about much more than obscure record stores or overpriced coffee shops; I believe they inform us about the nature of contemporary Western society and where it’s headed.
So, let’s get into the tofurkey and potatoes of this post. I will argue that hipsterism is the reaction of middle-class white men to the progressive inclusion of marginalized groups into traditionally white and male institutions.
Okay. Hold up. Aren’t hipsters supposed to be as liberal as they come, supporting political causes such as animal rights and relishing in pastime activities like the fine arts? Hipsters may at first glance appear ultra-liberal, even living in the left-wing city centers by the likes of Portland, OR (which was 54% Democratic as of December 2015), and Brighton, UK (which has been held by the Green party since 2010, and by the Labour Co-op before that). Despite these appearances, hipsters may actually be a wholly conservative movement, pushing marginalized groups out of the ‘mainstream’ through various social institutions. I will examine three of these institutions; 1) the workplace, 2) the neighbourhood, and 3) pop culture.
But before we get to that, let’s establish a concrete definition of what a hipster actually is. I will broadly define the term hipster as an individual of the late-capitalism period, characterized by ironic consumption habits and a quest for authenticity. It is important to place these individuals within late-stage capitalism, as it is during this time that marginalized groups have found a strong political voice, using it to assert their rights and refusals of the domineering white/male/wealthy social group(s). Irony is an integral part of this definition as well, because it informs the consumption habits of hipsters; labelling the ‘kitsch’ as hip, but only if consumed ironically. And lastly, all consumption habits of hipsters are based on the pursuit of authenticity within late-stage capitalistic society.
First, let’s take a look at the workplace. Because the entire field of hipster studies (yes, that is a real thing) is centered within the West, I will focus mostly on occurrences in the United States. Deindustrialization is not a particularly new problem in the USA; many Americans would pinpoint the beginnings of this phenomena to around 1979 to 1984, however, the brunt of deindustrialization was faced more recently from 2001 to 2009. During this period, one third of American manufacturing jobs disappeared, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This loss affected countless working-class families across the ‘Rust Belt’ of the United States, transforming traditionally working-class cities into ghost towns and exacerbating already existing economic insecurity. Though deindustrialization undoubtedly had negative ramifications for all sectors of American society, it is clear who was able to bounce back or even profit from this tumultuous time. While working-class individuals are affected directly by deindustrialization (as they are left without work), middle/upper-middle class individuals are affected indirectly (as their job is probably not contingent on manufacturing jobs remaining in their own country).
This is where hipsters come in, who as members of the upper-middle class, push working class individuals out of the workplace, and as an extension of that, out of the American consciousness. They do this in two ways: symbolically and literally.
Hipsters symbolically remove working class individuals from the workplace by historicizing and romanticizing the industrial past. This means that a nostalgic tinge is applied to working-class history to promulgate social-realist statements about the current world, forgetting the fundamental nature of the work itself (which is that it was hard work that paid well). Jefferson Cowie and Joseph Heathcott use the term “Smokestack Nostalgia” to describe the phenomenon of upper-middle-class individuals romanticizing working class memorabilia. In a 2013 journal, sociologist Tim Strangleman provides examples of texts that exhibit “Smokestack Nostalgia”, many of which are manifest in the form of the ‘coffee table book’. These books, such as James Jeffery Higgins’ Images of the Rust Belt, contain a particularly salient metadiscourse to the study of hipsters, which can be labelled as a “working class obituary” (i.e. symbolically killing working class people and their reality). Images such as those found in Higgins’ work impose an obituary on working-class individuals, through photos (often black and white) of factories devoid of workers, even in cases when the factories are still in use. This ‘un-peopling’ of industrial workplaces directly removes the working class presence from working-class establishments, devaluing the significance of these people during America’s industrial boom. Not only are working class people removed from factories; they are removed from existence in the consciousness of high-class Americans.
Photo by Malte Wingen
Furthermore, by rendering the photos black and white, David Lee notes (in Germain’s “Steel Works”) that the past is sanitized, or made appropriate for upper-class consumption. These publications leave the reader with aestheticized notions of industrialism, without an accurate historical narrative of the reality these fetishized places once contained. In addition to this, these coffee table books are far from accessible, as they sell for exorbitant prices that (ironically) working class individuals cannot afford. And, coffee table books are not the only manifestation of Smokestack Nostalgia or working class obituary; material relics such as clothing are appropriated by middle-class individuals (e.g. coveralls, ripped jeans, other forms of distressed clothing, etc.) as an ironic postindustrial statement. This type of clothing, often found in thrift shops, is curated and then sold for head-scratchingly high prices.
Another peculiar case of working-class obituary is the “ruin porn” (it’s probably not what you think it is) fanaticism of the 2000s. “Ruin porn” is a style of photography that seeks to capture tantalizing images of abandoned buildings; typically, industrial edifices. These images are captured by thrill-seeking “urban explorers” who combine their passions for photography and spelunking into one (often illegal) urban adventure. Cities like Detroit are most well known for their rich opportunities for “ruin porn”, given the city’s industrial history. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that urban explorationism requires not only a sentimentalized interest in working-class spaces, but a hefty wallet as well. Taking into account the camera equipment, weather-resistant gear, and the possibility of trespassing fines, it is clear that this activity is not for the working class. Instead, it is for the people who wish to expel the working class from their memory. Thus, by engaging in texts and activities that romanticize the industrial past, middle-class individuals symbolically remove the working class from the workplace environment, rendering working class people non-existent at worst, or rendering their spaces and belongings as ironic and aestheticized statements at best.
The symbolic removal of working-class people from the workplace by hipster consumers has important ramifications on the discourse around working-class issues and national consciousnesses, but what about tangible jobs? Are hipsters playing a role in the ousting of working-class individuals from the workplace? Though the hipsters cannot be blamed for deindustrialization, they can be criticized for appropriating working-class identities while actual working class individuals are struggling to find work (as discussed above with working-class obituaries). Meanwhile, you will have no problem finding a bevy of hipsters drinking fair trade espresso in the local mom-and-pop shop at three in the afternoon. On a weekday. This begs the question… do hipsters have jobs? Would they sacrifice a smidgeon of their authenticity in order to sustain employment at a relatively commonplace institution, like a bank or a firm or a Walmart or a GM factory?
This is a difficult question to answer as one’s situation will dictate whether certain types of employment are necessary. However, since hipsters arise out of the upper-middle class, they typically amass enough economic, social, and cultural capital to allow for selectivity over available employment options. For instance, one hipster may not have to work at a GM factory because his previously earned liberal arts degree landed him a job writing for a well-known publication. Or perhaps another hipster may not need to find employment (other than freelance Kombucha crafting) because he/she is fortunate enough to have a trust fund. In a different situation, a hipster may be able to secure an authentic job through their aunt who happens to work at an upscale thrift-establishment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Because of the privileged social situation of hipsters, they can have the luxury of working less income-secure professions while creating meaningful and “authentic” lives for themselves. So, while hipsters aren’t directly taking jobs from the working class, they are using their accumulated capital to ensure financial security, while still being able to appropriate working-class identities.
Ultimately, hipsters use cultural devices like smokestack nostalgia and working class obituary to erase the existence of working-class people in the post-industrial period. On top of this erasure of people and their identities, hipsters appropriate working class modes of dress and behaviours, such as drinking craft beer or listening to folk music. Attitudes are also appropriated, such as a preference for an entirely male workplace, which can be seen in hipster professions such as butchery, carpentry and other occupations of craftsmanship. Appropriating working-class identities allows hipsters to simultaneously denounce the lower class and occupy the cultural space where the working class used to reside, effectively stating “there’s no room for you here, find somewhere else to exist”. But the working class does not have the same ability that the upper/upper-middle class has to “exist” in other cultural spaces; they do not have the capital necessary to appropriate different identities and are thereby relegated to a cultural, if not literal, death.
Hipsters do not limit themselves to extraditing the working class from just one institution; when they come home after a day’s toil from their class-sanitized workplaces, they return to their class-sanitized neighbourhoods as well. Hipsters are known for their tactical gentrification, replacing havens for marginalized groups with the likes of micro-breweries and indie cafes. This, in turn, drives rent prices through the solar-panelled roof, forcing ethnic minorities and working-class families out altogether. Gentrification is not only caused by hipsters, but they surely have a role to play in the process. For instance, if we look at the craft brewery as a hallmark institution of the hipster (but also one that indicates a catalyst of commercial gentrification), it should seem logical that the number of craft breweries in the United States rocketed from 8 in 1980 to more than 3,400 in 2014. The brewing process employed in these establishments offers several appeals to the middle-class consumer; namely, the refusal of corporate ownership, small-batch production, and artistic experimentation. Because these traits imbue authenticity into the product, middle-class individuals can perform class distinguishment through their consumption, distancing themselves from the working class who would typically consume production beer (which offers little authenticity). However, the growing prominence of microbreweries in cities such as Portland tells us about much more than the changing middle-class preference of alcoholic beverages. Craft breweries, according to a 2018 study by Walker & Miller, indicate the changing face of neighbourhoods, usually from working class to middle class — and in the case of Portland — from ethnic minority to white. Portland’s Northeast neighbourhoods of Boise/Eliot and Alberta have seen exponential rates of gentrification since the 1990s, altering the neighbourhoods’ predominance of poor African American families to a majority of white middle-class families. As the ethnic and class geography of Portland began changing, so did the business landscape, where white middle-class businesses (e.g. craft breweries) replaced those of African Americans.
Conservatism for Cool Kids: Why Hipsters Aren’t as Liberal as You Think
Photo by Toa Heftiba
I can’t help but notice them daily. Their vintage flannels infiltrate my eyes; their scent of beard shampoo floods my nostrils. I entertain the thought that there must be a Conference for Skinny Lumberjacks in town — what else could account for the city’s man-bun inundation? The idea seems reasonable until I concur that they are either inefficient tree-cutters or lumberjacks who forgot to adjourn their [fair trade, sustainably sourced] coffee break.
Hipsters have been popping up in gentrified neighbourhoods since the 1990s and have been steadily growing into a significant subculture in many Western countries. Though the term ‘hipster’ is often used as a pejorative to deride the hyper-niche obsessions of millennials, this dismissal is a lost opportunity for societal critique. Hipsters can teach us about much more than obscure record stores or overpriced coffee shops; I believe they inform us about the nature of contemporary Western society and where it’s headed.
So, let’s get into the tofurkey and potatoes of this post. I will argue that hipsterism is the reaction of middle-class white men to the progressive inclusion of marginalized groups into traditionally white and male institutions.
Okay. Hold up. Aren’t hipsters supposed to be as liberal as they come, supporting political causes such as animal rights and relishing in pastime activities like the fine arts? Hipsters may at first glance appear ultra-liberal, even living in the left-wing city centers by the likes of Portland, OR (which was 54% Democratic as of December 2015), and Brighton, UK (which has been held by the Green party since 2010, and by the Labour Co-op before that). Despite these appearances, hipsters may actually be a wholly conservative movement, pushing marginalized groups out of the ‘mainstream’ through various social institutions. I will examine three of these institutions; 1) the workplace, 2) the neighbourhood, and 3) pop culture.
But before we get to that, let’s establish a concrete definition of what a hipster actually is. I will broadly define the term hipster as an individual of the late-capitalism period, characterized by ironic consumption habits and a quest for authenticity. It is important to place these individuals within late-stage capitalism, as it is during this time that marginalized groups have found a strong political voice, using it to assert their rights and refusals of the domineering white/male/wealthy social group(s). Irony is an integral part of this definition as well, because it informs the consumption habits of hipsters; labelling the ‘kitsch’ as hip, but only if consumed ironically. And lastly, all consumption habits of hipsters are based on the pursuit of authenticity within late-stage capitalistic society.
First, let’s take a look at the workplace. Because the entire field of hipster studies (yes, that is a real thing) is centered within the West, I will focus mostly on occurrences in the United States. Deindustrialization is not a particularly new problem in the USA; many Americans would pinpoint the beginnings of this phenomena to around 1979 to 1984, however, the brunt of deindustrialization was faced more recently from 2001 to 2009. During this period, one third of American manufacturing jobs disappeared, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This loss affected countless working-class families across the ‘Rust Belt’ of the United States, transforming traditionally working-class cities into ghost towns and exacerbating already existing economic insecurity. Though deindustrialization undoubtedly had negative ramifications for all sectors of American society, it is clear who was able to bounce back or even profit from this tumultuous time. While working-class individuals are affected directly by deindustrialization (as they are left without work), middle/upper-middle class individuals are affected indirectly (as their job is probably not contingent on manufacturing jobs remaining in their own country).
This is where hipsters come in, who as members of the upper-middle class, push working class individuals out of the workplace, and as an extension of that, out of the American consciousness. They do this in two ways: symbolically and literally.
Hipsters symbolically remove working class individuals from the workplace by historicizing and romanticizing the industrial past. This means that a nostalgic tinge is applied to working-class history to promulgate social-realist statements about the current world, forgetting the fundamental nature of the work itself (which is that it was hard work that paid well). Jefferson Cowie and Joseph Heathcott use the term “Smokestack Nostalgia” to describe the phenomenon of upper-middle-class individuals romanticizing working class memorabilia. In a 2013 journal, sociologist Tim Strangleman provides examples of texts that exhibit “Smokestack Nostalgia”, many of which are manifest in the form of the ‘coffee table book’. These books, such as James Jeffery Higgins’ Images of the Rust Belt, contain a particularly salient metadiscourse to the study of hipsters, which can be labelled as a “working class obituary” (i.e. symbolically killing working class people and their reality). Images such as those found in Higgins’ work impose an obituary on working-class individuals, through photos (often black and white) of factories devoid of workers, even in cases when the factories are still in use. This ‘un-peopling’ of industrial workplaces directly removes the working class presence from working-class establishments, devaluing the significance of these people during America’s industrial boom. Not only are working class people removed from factories; they are removed from existence in the consciousness of high-class Americans.
Photo by Malte Wingen
Furthermore, by rendering the photos black and white, David Lee notes (in Germain’s “Steel Works”) that the past is sanitized, or made appropriate for upper-class consumption. These publications leave the reader with aestheticized notions of industrialism, without an accurate historical narrative of the reality these fetishized places once contained. In addition to this, these coffee table books are far from accessible, as they sell for exorbitant prices that (ironically) working class individuals cannot afford. And, coffee table books are not the only manifestation of Smokestack Nostalgia or working class obituary; material relics such as clothing are appropriated by middle-class individuals (e.g. coveralls, ripped jeans, other forms of distressed clothing, etc.) as an ironic postindustrial statement. This type of clothing, often found in thrift shops, is curated and then sold for head-scratchingly high prices.
Another peculiar case of working-class obituary is the “ruin porn” (it’s probably not what you think it is) fanaticism of the 2000s. “Ruin porn” is a style of photography that seeks to capture tantalizing images of abandoned buildings; typically, industrial edifices. These images are captured by thrill-seeking “urban explorers” who combine their passions for photography and spelunking into one (often illegal) urban adventure. Cities like Detroit are most well known for their rich opportunities for “ruin porn”, given the city’s industrial history. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that urban explorationism requires not only a sentimentalized interest in working-class spaces, but a hefty wallet as well. Taking into account the camera equipment, weather-resistant gear, and the possibility of trespassing fines, it is clear that this activity is not for the working class. Instead, it is for the people who wish to expel the working class from their memory. Thus, by engaging in texts and activities that romanticize the industrial past, middle-class individuals symbolically remove the working class from the workplace environment, rendering working class people non-existent at worst, or rendering their spaces and belongings as ironic and aestheticized statements at best.
The symbolic removal of working-class people from the workplace by hipster consumers has important ramifications on the discourse around working-class issues and national consciousnesses, but what about tangible jobs? Are hipsters playing a role in the ousting of working-class individuals from the workplace? Though the hipsters cannot be blamed for deindustrialization, they can be criticized for appropriating working-class identities while actual working class individuals are struggling to find work (as discussed above with working-class obituaries). Meanwhile, you will have no problem finding a bevy of hipsters drinking fair trade espresso in the local mom-and-pop shop at three in the afternoon. On a weekday. This begs the question… do hipsters have jobs? Would they sacrifice a smidgeon of their authenticity in order to sustain employment at a relatively commonplace institution, like a bank or a firm or a Walmart or a GM factory?
This is a difficult question to answer as one’s situation will dictate whether certain types of employment are necessary. However, since hipsters arise out of the upper-middle class, they typically amass enough economic, social, and cultural capital to allow for selectivity over available employment options. For instance, one hipster may not have to work at a GM factory because his previously earned liberal arts degree landed him a job writing for a well-known publication. Or perhaps another hipster may not need to find employment (other than freelance Kombucha crafting) because he/she is fortunate enough to have a trust fund. In a different situation, a hipster may be able to secure an authentic job through their aunt who happens to work at an upscale thrift-establishment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Because of the privileged social situation of hipsters, they can have the luxury of working less income-secure professions while creating meaningful and “authentic” lives for themselves. So, while hipsters aren’t directly taking jobs from the working class, they are using their accumulated capital to ensure financial security, while still being able to appropriate working-class identities.
Ultimately, hipsters use cultural devices like smokestack nostalgia and working class obituary to erase the existence of working-class people in the post-industrial period. On top of this erasure of people and their identities, hipsters appropriate working class modes of dress and behaviours, such as drinking craft beer or listening to folk music. Attitudes are also appropriated, such as a preference for an entirely male workplace, which can be seen in hipster professions such as butchery, carpentry and other occupations of craftsmanship. Appropriating working-class identities allows hipsters to simultaneously denounce the lower class and occupy the cultural space where the working class used to reside, effectively stating “there’s no room for you here, find somewhere else to exist”. But the working class does not have the same ability that the upper/upper-middle class has to “exist” in other cultural spaces; they do not have the capital necessary to appropriate different identities and are thereby relegated to a cultural, if not literal, death.
Hipsters do not limit themselves to extraditing the working class from just one institution; when they come home after a day’s toil from their class-sanitized workplaces, they return to their class-sanitized neighbourhoods as well. Hipsters are known for their tactical gentrification, replacing havens for marginalized groups with the likes of micro-breweries and indie cafes. This, in turn, drives rent prices through the solar-panelled roof, forcing ethnic minorities and working-class families out altogether. Gentrification is not only caused by hipsters, but they surely have a role to play in the process. For instance, if we look at the craft brewery as a hallmark institution of the hipster (but also one that indicates a catalyst of commercial gentrification), it should seem logical that the number of craft breweries in the United States rocketed from 8 in 1980 to more than 3,400 in 2014. The brewing process employed in these establishments offers several appeals to the middle-class consumer; namely, the refusal of corporate ownership, small-batch production, and artistic experimentation. Because these traits imbue authenticity into the product, middle-class individuals can perform class distinguishment through their consumption, distancing themselves from the working class who would typically consume production beer (which offers little authenticity). However, the growing prominence of microbreweries in cities such as Portland tells us about much more than the changing middle-class preference of alcoholic beverages. Craft breweries, according to a 2018 study by Walker & Miller, indicate the changing face of neighbourhoods, usually from working class to middle class — and in the case of Portland — from ethnic minority to white. Portland’s Northeast neighbourhoods of Boise/Eliot and Alberta have seen exponential rates of gentrification since the 1990s, altering the neighbourhoods’ predominance of poor African American families to a majority of white middle-class families. As the ethnic and class geography of Portland began changing, so did the business landscape, where white middle-class businesses (e.g. craft breweries) replaced those of African Americans.
Part 2:
Though many of Portland’s Northeast neighbourhoods consisted of an African American majority in the 1980s, by 2000, none of the neighbourhoods retained their black majority. In the city of Portland (not including the tri-county area) from 1970 to 2010, the number of people older than 25 with at least a four-year college degree rose by 236.3%, and the median home value rose by 252.8%, clearly indicating a dramatic demographic shift. Though Portland is internationally known as an urban centre of cultural diversity (as seen in slogans like “Keep Portland weird”), it is important to note who is being excluded from this diversity. In other words, hipster Portlanders are more than happy to accept your eccentricities or “weirdness” — as long as it fits within the terms of white, middle-class culture.
So far, we have seen how hipsters push ethnic minorities and the working class out of their sociocultural reality, be it in the workplace or the neighbourhood. Now, I will examine how hipsters push these same groups out of the middle-class consciousness, through pop culture. In the past decade, hipsters have solidified their place in Western popular culture (though this has been done mainly through the satirical derision of hipsters). Despite being the butt of many a contemporary joke, hipsters can be seen informing popular culture about what is hip and what isn’t. For instance, hipster fashions such as vintage flannel and distressed denim have been absorbed by conglomerate retailers who provide an accessible answer to the question of postmodern authenticity. It is worth noting that while these retail items may not be authentic themselves, they provide the illusion of authenticity through the reinforcement of notions of ‘cool’ in both marketing and daily life.
This search for authenticity in ‘cool’ presents a few questions: what do hipsters lack in authenticity that makes them want to seek it? And if hipsters feel inauthentic, who/what do hipsters turn to find authenticity? Hipsters, belonging to the dominant group of society (white men, usually straight), may feel a sense of eroding ethnic dignity (sociologist Michael York’s term) — that white culture is void of any cultural meaning; borderline non-existent. Thus, to feel cultural meaning and belonging, hipsters may turn to groups who seemingly have strong, intact cultures and identities. It should not come as a surprise that these ‘authentic’ groups are also marginalized. By appropriating the clothing and culture of marginalized groups, hipsters erase the legitimacy of these groups and their struggles. By pushing trends derived from marginalized groups into hipster culture (and thereby into the eventual mainstream), all social and political significance that these groups pose is relegated to the past; the struggles of non-dominant social groups are reduced to mere fashion statements. Bringing these trends into pop culture means taking minorities out of it. To make this concrete, let’s look at some examples of hipster appropriations of marginalized groups.
Working Class Clothing
Hipster attire can be accurately described as “industrial chic”. Hipsters dress in industrial-era clothing styles, such as coveralls which are reminiscent of Fordism, or distressed denim which is reminiscent of mining jobs (which have a particular ethnic and racial history in the US and Canada). These styles are adaptations upon genuine working class fashions, providing a sanitized version of historically tattered clothes.
Metrosexualism
Metrosexuals are heterosexual men living in urban environments, who uphold appearance as a paramount value. Part of the metrosexual identity includes spending large sums of money on clothing and other aesthetic products. This phenomenon can be seen as an appropriation of gay and bi-sexual culture, as metrosexuals adopt many styles and attitudes that are common among males in the LGBTQ+ community.
Kill Whitey Parties
If you live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (arguably the hipster capital of the world), you may want to dress in all white clothing and dance to blaring hip-hop music while a (white) DJ yells the imperative “kill whitey”. It doesn’t take much to see that this is a b*stardized version of New York’s hip-hop scene, which began as an underground movement among the city’s African American population. This evening activity distorts and mocks the speaking and dancing styles of African American hip-hop fans and artists while avoiding actual interactions with black people.
DJ ‘Tha Pumpsta’ at a Kill Whitey Party
These three practices have one thing in common: they are all functions of neoliberalism. By appropriating the cultural practices of marginalized groups such as the working class, the LGBTQ+ community, and African Americans, hipsters assert that all culture is fair game for commodification. The underlying premise behind this is that everyone, in this glorious age of late-stage capitalism, is equal. All people, regardless of class, ethnicity, sexuality, etc., have a fair chance at success, at the American dream. Frankly, this is bullshyt. But, it is essential to gauge the cause of this hipster attitude: contemporary developments in social equity (such as affirmative action, Bill C-16 (Canada), and even the occurrence of an African American president) have called the privilege of white men into question, in that the dominant group does not benefit to the extent of previous times. Thus, neoliberalism serves to aid white men (and women too) in maintaining what remains of their privilege, essentially stating “we’re all equal now… so stop complaining”. For instance, metrosexualism can be reduced to something like “We get it. You’re gay. Other people wear skinny jeans too. Would you stop asking for more goddamn rights already?”.
This clearly pushes marginalized voices to the background of the white, middle-class consciousness, and appropriating the practices and styles of marginalized groups negates their existence altogether.
Though many of Portland’s Northeast neighbourhoods consisted of an African American majority in the 1980s, by 2000, none of the neighbourhoods retained their black majority. In the city of Portland (not including the tri-county area) from 1970 to 2010, the number of people older than 25 with at least a four-year college degree rose by 236.3%, and the median home value rose by 252.8%, clearly indicating a dramatic demographic shift. Though Portland is internationally known as an urban centre of cultural diversity (as seen in slogans like “Keep Portland weird”), it is important to note who is being excluded from this diversity. In other words, hipster Portlanders are more than happy to accept your eccentricities or “weirdness” — as long as it fits within the terms of white, middle-class culture.
So far, we have seen how hipsters push ethnic minorities and the working class out of their sociocultural reality, be it in the workplace or the neighbourhood. Now, I will examine how hipsters push these same groups out of the middle-class consciousness, through pop culture. In the past decade, hipsters have solidified their place in Western popular culture (though this has been done mainly through the satirical derision of hipsters). Despite being the butt of many a contemporary joke, hipsters can be seen informing popular culture about what is hip and what isn’t. For instance, hipster fashions such as vintage flannel and distressed denim have been absorbed by conglomerate retailers who provide an accessible answer to the question of postmodern authenticity. It is worth noting that while these retail items may not be authentic themselves, they provide the illusion of authenticity through the reinforcement of notions of ‘cool’ in both marketing and daily life.
This search for authenticity in ‘cool’ presents a few questions: what do hipsters lack in authenticity that makes them want to seek it? And if hipsters feel inauthentic, who/what do hipsters turn to find authenticity? Hipsters, belonging to the dominant group of society (white men, usually straight), may feel a sense of eroding ethnic dignity (sociologist Michael York’s term) — that white culture is void of any cultural meaning; borderline non-existent. Thus, to feel cultural meaning and belonging, hipsters may turn to groups who seemingly have strong, intact cultures and identities.
It should not come as a surprise that these ‘authentic’ groups are also marginalized. By appropriating the clothing and culture of marginalized groups, hipsters erase the legitimacy of these groups and their struggles. By pushing trends derived from marginalized groups into hipster culture (and thereby into the eventual mainstream), all social and political significance that these groups pose is relegated to the past; the struggles of non-dominant social groups are reduced to mere fashion statements. Bringing these trends into pop culture means taking minorities out of it. To make this concrete, let’s look at some examples of hipster appropriations of marginalized groups.Working Class Clothing
Hipster attire can be accurately described as “industrial chic”. Hipsters dress in industrial-era clothing styles, such as coveralls which are reminiscent of Fordism, or distressed denim which is reminiscent of mining jobs (which have a particular ethnic and racial history in the US and Canada). These styles are adaptations upon genuine working class fashions, providing a sanitized version of historically tattered clothes.
Metrosexualism
Metrosexuals are heterosexual men living in urban environments, who uphold appearance as a paramount value. Part of the metrosexual identity includes spending large sums of money on clothing and other aesthetic products. This phenomenon can be seen as an appropriation of gay and bi-sexual culture, as metrosexuals adopt many styles and attitudes that are common among males in the LGBTQ+ community.
Kill Whitey Parties
If you live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (arguably the hipster capital of the world), you may want to dress in all white clothing and dance to blaring hip-hop music while a (white) DJ yells the imperative “kill whitey”. It doesn’t take much to see that this is a b*stardized version of New York’s hip-hop scene, which began as an underground movement among the city’s African American population. This evening activity distorts and mocks the speaking and dancing styles of African American hip-hop fans and artists while avoiding actual interactions with black people.
DJ ‘Tha Pumpsta’ at a Kill Whitey Party
These three practices have one thing in common: they are all functions of neoliberalism. By appropriating the cultural practices of marginalized groups such as the working class, the LGBTQ+ community, and African Americans, hipsters assert that all culture is fair game for commodification. The underlying premise behind this is that everyone, in this glorious age of late-stage capitalism, is equal. All people, regardless of class, ethnicity, sexuality, etc., have a fair chance at success, at the American dream. Frankly, this is bullshyt. But, it is essential to gauge the cause of this hipster attitude: contemporary developments in social equity (such as affirmative action, Bill C-16 (Canada), and even the occurrence of an African American president) have called the privilege of white men into question, in that the dominant group does not benefit to the extent of previous times. Thus, neoliberalism serves to aid white men (and women too) in maintaining what remains of their privilege, essentially stating “we’re all equal now… so stop complaining”. For instance, metrosexualism can be reduced to something like “We get it. You’re gay. Other people wear skinny jeans too. Would you stop asking for more goddamn rights already?”.
This clearly pushes marginalized voices to the background of the white, middle-class consciousness, and appropriating the practices and styles of marginalized groups negates their existence altogether.
Cave Savage
Feminist
Maybe there are some closeted ones but transplants to New York tend to be stereotypical "SJW" types.
Hipsters liberal cacs all the same, the same people who will be at BLM marches but if you try to get in their circles for even a minute would look down on you with even more snobbishness than a conservative Cac, they all racist.