My Hipster Backlash Backlash

    Man, I’m sick of hearing the word “hipster.” If I hear that word just a few more times, I think my ears will explode and blood (and ear bits) will spray all over the walls and onto anyone who happens to be standing within … earshot.

    Now let me be perfectly clear. I’m not necessarily sick of actual hipsters (although, if I see one more twenty-something guy walk by sporting a beard, a mustard-yellow button-up sweater, and a pair of women’s sunglasses, I’ll probably give them a good, solid face-push). No, I’m sick of people talking about hipsters. It’s just boring.

    There is nothing left to say about what a hipster is, what they do, how they look, what music they like, or how tight their skinny-leg pants are. No one who talks about hipsters is praising them. It’s all insults, and it got old a few years ago. The word “hipster” has been an insult since the very first time it was used to describe anyone who lives The Life Ironic. And, while I love making fun of trivial subcultures as much as the next guy, I’m done.

    Bashing hipsters is just like bashing goth kids or emo kids or Young Republicans. People do it because they’re easy targets. Yes, pretentious people should be knocked down a peg. Yes, people with whacky-ass haircuts must be ridiculed. And yes, people who attend a friend’s wedding wearing leather slacks, LA Gear hightops, a Big Bud’s Hometown Auto Supply T-Shirt, a white tuxedo coat, and a purple Trucker’s cap need to be shot into space. But come on, people. Let’s challenge ourselves. We also need to be more careful about what we’re criticizing.

    Hipsters are so widely mocked that a number of truly good cultural activities have felt the sting of the backlash. I’m baffled by how many other sub cultural activities – biking, gardening, knitting, eating local, etc. – have been sucked beneath the hipster label. These things are casualties by association, but they’re not inherently hipster trends.