On top of it, geek culture is a hipster culture. Oh you listen to obscure geeky bands and wear comic/anime t-shirts all the time? You purposely disengage from mainstream society? You're overly critical of the status quo and only socialize with people exactly like you? Gee, that sounds like the guy you're criticizing.
I can't help but feel that a large portion of the current "geek culture" is a collection of appropriations from a different group, selected for "authenticity", similar to criticisms of the wider hipster culture.
I wore thick-rim glasses because 1. I didn't/couldn't care about fashion 2. my parents didn't have the money for nicer frames and 3. I actually could not see without glasses. So yeah, when I see thick rim glasses being worn _because_ they "look geeky," or worse, without even any lenses because the person has perfect vision, it annoys me a little bit. Because I got treated like dog shit by the exact same class of person who now dresses in a parody of my life as a frivolous fashion decision.
I grew up wearing "dorky" glasses, switched to vertically narrower frames, and now wear a pair of Warby Parker retro-ish glasses (http://bit.ly/1btLNTC for reference). So as someone who's been on both sides, I find your response pretty interesting.
I can understand your annoyance and you're certainly entitled to it. I suppose the first thing I did when I read your post is ask myself "Well, why do I wear these glasses?" The simple answer is that my girlfriend thought I should get new glasses, so we picked out a bunch from Warby Parker to try on and she liked these the best. But even though she picked them out, I was complicit in the choice; if she had picked out some sort of bizarrely-shaped polka-dotted frame, I'm pretty sure I would've vetoed that. So there was some part of me that said "hey, I kinda like how I look in these."
Now, does this mean I'm appropriating a look that was formerly a magnet for bullies? Maybe. But the key thing to remember when considering the relationship between ridicule and compliments is that both are equally arbitrary. There was no reason for people to mock you or me for our choice of glasses back then, just like there's no intrinsic reason that these same glasses should appear attractive 10 years later. That's just how fashion/culture works.
I think if someone personally harassed someone else for wearing "dorky" glasses, and then later decided to wear that same style of glasses to appear fashionable while continuing to deride people that don't share their taste in clothing, then yeah, that would seem pretty hypocritical.
So you are hating some actual person because years ago some other person which has absolutely nothing to do with the first person except for you classifying the as "same class of person" did something bad to you? Are you realizing that in this scenario you are the problem and if only you stopped classifying people by "classes" and started treating them as individuals there would be no reason for annoyance at all?
> Because I got treated like dog shit by the exact same class of person who now dresses in a parody of my life
What suggests to you that these are the same people? Like, if I wore lensless glasses for kicks, would that put me into the "high school bully" class?
You're doing what TFA complains about: making assumptions about people & speaking ill of them because of how they dress. Why make assumptions? Why get mad because some guy wears a V-neck?
Because it's not arbitrary. I didn't get punched in the guts when I was a kid because I was wearing tight pants driving a pennyfarthing. I was punched in the guts because I was a "nerd" which meant "not cool." So when someone copies the cartoon version of me to be "cool" I'm entitled to be annoyed. I was who I was, I wasn't trying to fit an "image." Unlike hipsters, which are a real thing, I didn't get the privilege of being made fun of for trying so desperately hard to look a certain way; I was made fun of for being who I really was.
It's "cool" to be a nerd now, only in the sense that you can generally like whatever you want and be accepted for it. And I think that's great. Wish it was like that when I was a kid. Hipsters tried to make being a "nerd" "cool" in their usual exclusionary fashion, by ironically appropriating what they thought was ugly and awkward. Unsurprisingly us ugly, awkward folks didn't like that.
EDIT: I have nothing against the guy in the article, to make that clear.
Why do you think any given hipster wasn't also punched in the gut for being a nerd? Who are you to say that your nerd style sense is somehow more "real" than their adopted image now? For all you know they were a nerd then, continue to be a nerd now, and have merely refined how they carry themselves. Maybe hipsters look like cool kids trying to make "nerd" cool because they are actually nerds who are cool.
Who the hell knows? Not you. You are just judging them for their style and how well they can pull it off. This tells you nothing of who they actually are.
> I was punched in the guts because I was a "nerd" which meant "not cool." So when someone copies the cartoon version of me to be "cool" I'm entitled to be annoyed.
I'm not sure how old you are & I apologize if this comes off as patronizing, but I promise you'll be happier when you let go of some of this stuff. You're getting pissed off at some guy on a fixie with a "Chthulu is my Homeboy" shirt on because you got bullied in high school for wearing glasses? Two reasons not to do this:
1) It's arbitrary: you don't know if the fixie guy was a bully or bullied as a kid, if it even matters; you're just hating some random person who has nothing to do with your childhood.
2) There is a cost and probably no benefit: being bitter and angry at people is not free of cost- it can make you feel bad, increase your stress, and make other people not want to be around you. What's the cost/benefit ratio on hating PBR drinkers?
I don't know, like the article says, it's easy to confuse deep sincerity for irony. Some of hipster/geek chic is about beauty shining through unflattering clothes and awkwardness. Some of it is genuine appreciation for unusual things. Both part of a movement towards being more accepting of differences.
> It's "cool" to be a nerd now, only in the sense that you can generally like whatever you want and be accepted for it.
Can we stop for a moment to appreciate how amazing this is? As a social development, this is something I could barely even conceptualize when I was in high school at the turn of the millenia.
A few years ago I pulled up to a four-way stop on my Vespa Granturismo at the same time that there were 3 other Vespa riders pulled up to the other three sides and I thought to myself, "wow, just look at all of the quirky individualist non-conformists!"
Ehh, I think there is certainly some overlap, particularly in the "retro" tastes, but I don't think what you are describing as geek culture is really a subset of hipster culture. Mario tshirts? Sure, you could call that hipster. Anime tshirts? I wouldn't say so.
People with both styles are in many of my social circles, but they still seem relatively distinct to me.
I don't think he meant about the particular details. To give a minimalist example, you could say that people who enjoy using old cameras (even though they're not as good as modern ones) share something in common with people who enjoy hooking up their NES and playing Mario 3 (even though some might argue that it's not as engaging as their favorite AAA game).
The two objects of interest are not the same, they're not in the same category, but they're both tied by the same kind of enjoyment for retro things.
So it's not really about which shirts are worn by geeks and hipsters at the same time ...
Depending on where you're at culturally, anime could be relatively obscure.
Hipster is a blanket term that really means something along the lines of "they're doing something unique to others in order to stand out and be 'cool.'" A "geek" may wear a Github or a Mario T-shirt because it's "cool" within their circle, but relatively obscure to the general public.
I don't think it is accurate to just sum up "hipster culture" as obscure, or even obscure and retro. It is more nuanced than that.
You could dress up like a 1980s goth kid, which is retro and relatively obscure these days, but I don't think many people would consider that hipster. I think anime t-shirts are similar, even where anime is obscure (also, I think outside of college campuses, anime is universally more obscure than many people believe).
> "You could dress up like a 1980s goth kid, which is retro and relatively obscure these days, but I don't think many people would consider that hipster."
You might be surprised. There used to be a Tumblr blog called LookAtThatFuckingHipster, and it was kind of funny the insane range of people that get submitted there. Part of the silliness of hipster-hating is that it would seem we can't even agree what constitutes a hipster! I remember seeing more than a few emos and goths in the bunch.
People often assume that when someone is dressed unusually they are doing it for attention.
I don't know anyone who actually dresses for attention. I know plenty of people who dress unusually though, since I'm part of the rock/goth/alternative community in my city. Every one of them dresses according to their sense of aesthetics. They dress in a way that they think looks good.
I get the feeling that a lot of the people complaining about hipsters are like when you get regular people complaining about modern art or jazz music. Ignorant people making assumptions. I'm not saying I understand hipster fashion, but I at least know that I don't understand it. I find it hard to believe that many people dress in a way that they personally think looks bad in order to be fashionable.
Being hipster is just trying to look cool for doing everything that isn't actually cool. Being geek is about doing things that you like that just happen to be geeky.
What's wrong with enjoying the feeling of being counterculture?
This whole anti-hipster sentiment is so bizarre to me. It's all about policing other peoples' fashion/taste/activities without reason. The idea that hipsters are somehow not genuine doesn't make any sense. What is there to be genuine to?
If you use an old film camera because you like the photos it takes and are fascinated by how it operates, more power to you.
If you use an old film camera because you think it looks cool around your neck, more power to you.
If you use an old film camera because you like the fact that you're one of the only people using one, more power to you.
>What's wrong with enjoying the feeling of being counterculture?
In terms of a stereotypical hipster, it's because it's being smug that you're not following the crowd. But you get there by paying a lot of attention to what the crowd likes, and using that as your primary decision maker. AKA you're following the crowd.
It's okay to like being unique, but find a niche though your own preferences, not though hypocritical reasoning.
I suppose there is a kind of self-contradiction is trying to be "fashionably unfashionable" which seems ripe for mockery.
But, in practice, the mockery boils down to an exercise in More Authentic Than Thou based on guesses from superficial details. Isn't making judgements about authenticity based on a few superficial details an even more loathsome exercise in hypocrisy?
I do like EvanKelly's point here: "What is there to be genuine to."?
What the heck is someone supposed to wear that is neither an overt exercise in conformity or a contrived exercise in non-conformity? What would in between or opting out of the pretense look like?
In fact, it might look a lot like Mr. Hermelin, whose clothes look functional and cheap, without any visible labels, without any apparent in-factory distressing of the fabric.
Me too, I actually find hipster culture, to the extent it is indeed a thing, to bring a certain sense of fun to my little world. As opposed to everyone just giving up and buying what they see on TV, watching football, Facebook etc.
I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but I don't think it is an expression of individuality, either. Going against the grain is still buying into the grain. Individuality is more about being orthogonal.
I like this response. I'm not sure that I'm mentally mature enough to actually sustain it, but I like it the best. Let people do whatever they like and don't bother judging or grouping them too much.
It undermines genuine counterculture movements. When you have a lot of people who will act like they support a certain idea until questioned about it, and then duck away saying they were just being ironic, the result is that no-one takes anyone seriously. It's bad for the same reasons as bumper stickers, or protest groups who do nothing but stupid stunts.
PBR is very cheap, and actually very tolerable when you are in the market for cheap American lagers. Before it got a reputation for being "hipster" it was a popular "blue collar" beer, and for good reason.
I'd call it better than Budweiser, worse than Coors. Certainly better than the other heavyweight in 'cheap booze that young people drink': Natural Light. For some reason drinking natty light is not seen to be as damming an indicator on a persons character though... that is reserved for PBR.
Good points. I think they're all pretty awful (relatively speaking, if one is doing more than getting plastered), but somehow only the one gets the negative connotation. Though, I will admit my early college years I did drink them all at some point regrettably, even at least one PBR that I know of offhand.
Call me strange, but there are times when I am honestly happy to get a Bud Light. It's cheap, very light, and still gives me a "You're drinking a beer" feeling. It's relaxing.
I definitely prefer Sierra Nevada, Stone IPA, and Harpoon to Bud Light 95% of the time, but there are days when it's 115 degrees out and my mind says "I want beer-flavored water."
The worst beer, by far, is heavy beer that tastes like garbage. I can drink Natty Light and be happy; I cannot drink a heavy beer that tastes bad.
The first, it also tends to extend to most american beer (excluding some of the bigger craft ones which have made it out of the states) and cars, in my personal experience. Although for a perverse few who idolise american culture, bud etc are aspirational, so each to their own I guess?
Haha whoah whoah whoah since when is playing Go hipster and something that 'they' do? This whole us vs. them turn in the conversation is making me suddenly uncomfortable.
Depends on your definition of "hipster". Some people just look like hipsters because they don't actually care what you think, not because they're trying to stand out.
You want to use a typewriter at the local coffee shop? Rock on.
Hipsterism is nothing new (we were complaining about it back when affluent kids started hitting juke joints in the poor part of town). We call it a sub-culture but it isn't one and never has been.
It is most often upper-middle kids (generally white) adopting and gentrifying sub-cultures and then abandoning them when all of the cool has been drained out. What is left becomes fodder for "ironic" mockery.
That is what the author never thinks of addressing. What he boils down to "they hate me because they think I want attention" isn't because he wants attention, it is because he has taken on the trappings of a group who devour other groups.
