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Yuppie is harder to characterize since it really just means young professionals. Probably more consistency in their general materialism than in a fashion sense. Many are preppy, some more Euro or Banana Republic-y and a lot kind of dip their toes in hipster fashion without being full-blown Williamsburg parodies.
The 80's had a lot of classic interpretations of yuppies in the media. Movies like Wall Street, Alex Keaton on Family Ties, pretty much most movies that had James Spader, lol. But these days its been watered down.
Hipsters are mostly concentrated in lower Manhattan, and Brooklyn. Billyburg is pretty much the main concentration. Within the subculture there are different types, there is not necessarily one uniform style of dress or general comportment. Although if you've been around enough of them you can spot them. They tend to be overwhelmingly White and transplants, but hipsters of color and natives do exist. The strings that bind them seem to be common interests in music, and fashion, and a general dislike of establishment, a mainstream lifestyle, etc. Some are more politically inclined, others strictly into the lifestyle.
IMO they have a lot in common with the Mod movement of the 60's.
I think musically they have made some contributions. The music genre they are most closely associated with, Indi Rock, has some great bands. Other than that personally, I don't think much of their subculture.
One of the most glaring elements of the hipster subculture is that it has no soul. There is no unifying movement or purpose behind the amalgamation of various subcultural elements from different eras into the modern dynamic that is expressed in urban areas today. It's more of a mockery of the past movements that had a purpose, or a unifying force, within the subcultural movement. The punks, the beats, the mods, etc. all had something that brought them together. Hipsters seem to be living some sort of inside counterculture joke that only they seem to understand, and about which only they seem to care.
There's nothing unique about the movement as they have stolen most elements from other groups and brought them together in the alleged indie style. Even the indie music and film scene does not uniformly draw hipsters, unlike other true subcultural movements of the past. It's the purposelessness of the hipster movement and the aggravating contrived attitudes towards other people that tends to cause anger and aggravation, since they have no clue as for what the original elements appropriated by the movement stood.
The hipster thinks that they are superior, for rejecting consumerism, and any other -ism that they are against that hour/day/week. Yet, they don't understand that they are the brunt of their own inside joke, since they're too busy looking at everything around them with contrived disdain to notice that few in NYC actually notice or care. I find that to be ironic, since many transplant hipsters (as NYC-bred hipsters do know nobody cares and are a subgroup unto themselves) think that they are creating a stir or elevating themselves in the rejection of the culture around them, but in reality it's barely noticed save for within their own ranks and sympathizers. Outside of the coffee and peasant districts where the "scene" is practiced, there's a city of millions that could actually care less about the purple fauxhawk and goofy glasses on someone with 20/20 vision, it's just the attitude about nothing that grates on the nerves.
Hipsters also think it's "cool" to make cutesy references to "Billyburg," whereas the genuine Brooklynite would never replace Williamsburg with anything else.
BMW I am not sure why any "movement" or "culture" has to meet your test for value or authenticity. Answer me this...if you had your choice to live around the Ghetto Subculture or Hipsters in NYC for the rest of your life...which would you choose and why?
People love to knock these so-called "hipsters". In my limited time on this earth I've noticed that people look at past cultural fads and movements through rose-tinted glasses. For every hippie who believed in something, most just wanted to party, get laid and look cool. Same thing for punks. Same thing for hipsters. There are always going to be shallow fads and styles and they rarely have much to do with actually changing anything. As a kid I went through plenty of styles and it was part of growing up. The idea that scenesters, poseurs, and other wannabe-hip people is a new phenomenon is funny.
Also the idea that the current gen of 20-30-somethings are culturally devoid is laughable. Sure the majority of people just want to fit in but there are quite a few people out there who have really taken advantage of the modern DIY culture (popularized by punks, I know) and brought it into the modern day and combined it with internet culture. Where I live now there are plenty of "scenes" where kids do their own hip thing but out of that "scene", I've seen multiple bands get started on the national level. I've seen some great art and great self-organized passion come out of these allegedly worthless communities.
So while I don't quite fit the description of a hipster (I am far too square myself) I don't see how this gen is any different than the ones that came before. The majority are still in it for the parties and the posing yet some will inevitably contribute to the popular culture.
BMW I am not sure why any "movement" or "culture" has to meet your test for value or authenticity. Answer me this...if you had your choice to live around the Ghetto Subculture or Hipsters in NYC for the rest of your life...which would you choose and why?
I never said that anything had to meet my standards at all. I was explaining a rationale as to why some people have issues with hipsters. Personally, I have no issue with hipsters or any other cultural group, but I do understand how others can be aggravated by the movement on a daily basis. Some hipsters are interesting people, and others are a bit annoying, much like the majority of people in this world. So, I don't see where I said that I was the arbiter of determining whether or not a cultural movement was valid by my own particular standards, since I'm one of the last people who would ever tell someone how to live their life, provided it's not negatively impacting my own.
And, just to clarify, I never said that the hipster culture is worthless, I said that it had no soul in my opinion and many elements are appropriated in a mocking fashion. Again, this is what I have observed within hipster circles. I wanted to clarify, just in case that would be the follow up, since I don't see where my opinion was that outrageous and certainly was not malicious towards any group.
Moreover, I do not see how expressing an opinion warrants being presented with hypothetical questioning as to whom I would rather live around for the rest of my life, since the whole premise is flawed as people and places change everyday. Sorry, but I'm just not going to take the bait to argue the point.
Moreover, I do not see how expressing an opinion warrants being presented with hypothetical questioning as to whom I would rather live around for the rest of my life, since the whole premise is flawed as people and places change everyday. Sorry, but I'm just not going to take the bait to argue the point.
Absolutely perfect response.
And I might add my own take that hipsters do have a presence in society that seems unavoidable in NYC. Perhaps hipsterdom will live on, perhaps it will fade away into a footnote in history books 100 years hence when gadflies are discussed by professors who have exhausted coverage of all the main and meaningful contributions to the well being of society.
well people looked at mods, punks, and hippies funny
people hated on them too, maybe for good reason, maybe not
and if hipsters is the current mod or punk or hippie, then it is okay to hate on them too, because they consent to it by being a hipster
also why does one go about becoming hipster?
Are they raised in a hipster nabe, or do they just all of a sudden decide they want to be a hipster out of nowhere? (same goes for hippies, mods, punks)
also it is not normal for kids to go through many different "styles" like going from athlete, to skater, to musician, to high school lab rat, to trouble maker, to teacher's pet
It is normal to try different things when you are a teenager, but to make each different thing a "lifestyle" is not normal
It is something rich kids who wish they had street cred do
BMW I am not sure why any "movement" or "culture" has to meet your test for value or authenticity. Answer me this...if you had your choice to live around the Ghetto Subculture or Hipsters in NYC for the rest of your life...which would you choose and why?
You's a hipsta. Well, at the very least, you have hipster shoes. Haha.
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Well, at the very least, you have hipster shoes. Haha.
