The word hipster has existed for a while, but gained its current usage during the 90s and became really common in the last couple of years. Wikipedia calls it a “subculture typically consist[ing] of white millennial in urban areas…broadly associated with indie and alternative music, a varied non-mainstream fashion sensibility (including vintage and thrift store-bought clothes), generally progressive political views, organic and artisanal foods, and alternative lifestyles.”
The obvious reason that I’m writing this article is that I’ve been called a hipster many times in my life. However, I don’t think any of those things really apply to me. I mainly listen to hip hop music, buy clothes from J. Crew and Banana Republic, have one of the more conservative views of my friends, sometimes eat organic fruits, and live a super normal suburban lifestyle. For some reason, people tend to think that anything that’s not what they consider “normal” as “hipster.” Cuffing pants is actually a really common thing and not “hipster.” There’s really no reason to grab my leg and unroll the cuff. Vampire Weekend also is a super super super popular band and thus not really “hipster.” And organic apples just taste better, okay?
I’m not really sure what I’m trying to say here, other than the fact that I think that hipster is a silly word that doesn’t really mean everything. No one knows what it means, other than a vague association with avoiding the mainstream, finding things before they’re cool and pretty much everything else in the world it seems. Using the word is useless and really doesn’t do anything. Either you are hurting one’s feelings, as it could be used pejoratively. Otherwise, they might be confused, wondering what the hell you really mean. I ask everyone to just abstain from saying a word that wastes breath.
Nikhil Sethi 