Hipster (contemporary subculture)
 | This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. |
 | This article needs attention from an expert in Culture. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article. |
A hipster is an individual who avoids and often explicitly rejects whatever is seen as mainstream or corporate in nature, instead embracing alternative forms of expression.
History
"Hipster" derives from the word "hip." In the early days of jazz, musicians were using the word "hip" to describe anybody who was "in the know" about an emerging culture, mostly black, which revolved around jazz.[1] They and their fans were known as "hepcats." Subsequently the word "hipster" was coined to replace "hepcat."
The first printed dictionary to list the word hipster is the short glossary "For Characters Who Don't Dig Jive Talk," published in 1944 with Harry Gibson's first album, "Boogie Woogie In Blue." The entry for "hipsters" defined it as "characters who like hot jazz." This short glossary of jive expressions was also printed on playbills handed out at Gibson's concerts for a few years. It was not a complete glossary of jive, as it only included jive expressions that were found in the lyrics to his songs.
Term Revived
The word ‘’hipster’’ was revived when marketers started to have trouble marketing to the infamous 18 to 24 demographic because of their eclectic tastes. The first appearance of "hipster" in its contemporary form was in April 14, 1994 in the Camel Cigarettes Confidential Internal Report:[2] "These "hipsters'" entire social lives revolve around nightclubs, cafes, fashion, and music."
Glenn Belverio's nonfiction book, Confessions from the Velvet Ropes, documents various parties in the 00's organized by the hipster deejay and party promoter team of The MisShapes, such as the nights Jarvis Cocker of the band Pulp and Madonna spun surprise deejay sets. An amusing sidebar in the book breaks down the various types of MisShapes' hipsters by describing their clothing, hairstyles, and music preferences, and because of this the book was compared to The Official Preppy Handbook by Publisher's Weekly.
Robert Lanham's The Hipster Handbook affectionately lampoons the hipster cliché in its current incarnation. David Brooks of the New York Times aptly described the recent generation of hipsters as "laid low by the ironies of consumerism". Numerous web sites also exist that less-affectionately express their authors' exasperation at hipster clichés.[3] Many would argue that the term "hipster" itself has become derisive, and it is seldom used as a label for self-identification, except in an ironic or self-deprecating way.
The hipster lifestyle has recently become vilifed to the extent that the magazine Time Out New York ran its May 31-June 6 2007 issue with the headline: "The Hipster Must Die," calling for an end to the "pretentious" and "unoriginal" existence of "the cultural zombies" known as hipsters.[1]
Hipster Philosophy and Behavior
Norman Mailer’s 1957 essay, entitled “The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster”, reflects on the racial role reversals and structural perversions embraced by the hipster subculture. [4][5]. Although Mailer's focus on racial roles has lost its relevance over time, the spirit of subversion, perversion, and reversal is still significant for the contemporary hipster.
For example, many modern hipsters identify themselves, if only superficially, with the working class. Pabst Blue Ribbon emerged from historically low sales after being adopted by the hipster subculture in Portland, Oregon. Executives of the company had noticed that sales were growing without explanation. Further research found a local Portland bar The Lutz had changed its offering to Pabst after a local beer went off the market. It was found that the local community was made up of a large counterculture along with working class people who had adopted Pabst.[6] The popularity of Pabst has spread and it is now a popular beer among hipsters.