EXCAVATING COOL:

A n A nalysis

of

Hipsterism

and

Why

it

Matters

Nicole Batrouny
WRIT 1733: Fandom and Fan Writing
Professor Juli Parrish

I dont know when I first fell in love with the hipster. The nerdy glasses that have nothing to do

with vision. Scandalously exposed ankles. Ironic t-shirts. Unkempt hair sticking out perfectly
from a knit beanie on a warm, sunny day. If you were to take an average Joe and slap on

some of these accessories, you could turn a 5 into a 9 in my book. Lets fast forward through

this embarrassing infatuation to spring quarter freshman year. I was taking an honors writing

class centered on the social phenomenon of fandom. I was more than pleased when I found

out that it was totally cool to write papers about Frozen or anything else I was obsessed with.
Like, maybe, hipsters. Cue the final project, a research paper on a topic of our choosing. I
knew it had to be on hipsters. I based my paper around a facet of fandom aptly named anti-fandom, which you maybe wouldnt guess because the papers current incarnation has
absolutely nothing to do with fandom.

Though the paper was spawned from a class assignment, the idea quickly outgrew the

prompt. To me, hipsterism became so much more than a version of anti-fandom. Hipsters

have been mocked, imitated, and underestimated, but never praised. I didnt start this paper
knowing I would end up exalting hipster ideology, but here we are. Not only was a hipster

destined to be the love of my life, but the hipster was also (spoiler alert) the great redeemer

of pop culture. Once I got inside the mind of a hipster, I realized this figure is so much more
than a cute boy on a single-speed bicycle.

INTRODUCTION
Popular culture is everywhere; it consumes us as
much as we consume it. We are so caught up in
pop culture today that we must be rescued. But
who is the hero that can save us from the omnipotent mainstream? Enter the hipster, determined
to liberate us one Polaroid picture at a time. The
mentality of rebelling against the mainstream
has been around for decades, but it wasnt until
the 1940s, when the term hipster was coined,
that it had a name. As opposed to a downright
war against pop culture, hipsterism is an ideology
that aims to save society from an oppressive mainstream. Acting as both archaeologists and cura-

tors, hipsters salvage relics of the pastdeciding

what is cool and what is not, what should be kept
and what should be dropped from pop culture.

POP CULTURE & THE MAINSTREAM

Urban Dictionary defines pop culture as both
a widely accepted group of practices or customs
and the destruction of the human race (Pop
Culture). Between the impartial definitions of
the mainstream and the degrading descriptions
of media brainwash[ing] and creating zombies (Pop Culture), it is evident that people
have some mixed feelings about pop culture.
The most neutral definition of pop culture
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Acting as both archaeologists and

curators, hipsters salvage relics of the
pastdeciding what is cool and what
is not, what should be kept and what
should be dropped from pop culture.

Nicole Batrouny /
photo provided by author

Before Nicole moved to Colorado, she

had never even been to the state. She

had never been camping, never climbed

a real rock attached to a mountain, and

never panted so hard from one flight of

stairs. Nicole is originally from Overland

Park, Kansas, a suburb that no one has

ever heard of. She did not grow up on a

farm and did not know Dorothy; however,

she was swept up into a tornado of col-

lege applications and big decisions that

landed her at the University of Denver,

where she is now a sophomore studying
mechanical engineering.

found on Urban Dictionary is the lifestyle and

tastes of the majority of mostly younger people.
In a 2013 marketing study, Aurora A. Saulo, Howard R. Moskowitz, and Abigail S. Rustia sought to define mainstream more strictly
and identify the effects of demographics on the
concept by asking participants to give opinions
on popular consumer products. Their definition
of mainstream pinpointed the phrases most
read, heard, talked aboutalmost every day, the
product most people buy[or that is] found everywhere, or what most of the population prefers (Saulo, Moskowitz, and Rustia 160). Their
study revealed two different attitudes among respondents: those who relied on the characteristics or attributes of the product or offering to
form their concept of [it] and those who relied
on the behavior of other people toward the product or offering (174). The first, those who based
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their thinking directly on the products themselves, defined their own tastes and preferences,
regardless of others. The second, larger group let
others define the way they felt about the product. This group internalized what was defined
as mainstream and adhered to the cultural standards that defined good taste.

TASTE AND CULTURAL CAPITAL

Cultural theorist Pierre Bourdieus studies of
French society help explain these competing
attitudes toward the mainstream. Bourdieu borrowed the economic concept of capital, the
accumulation of economic wealth and assets, to
explain his own idea of taste. He found cultural
capital in our displays of skills, tastes, posture,
clothing, mannerisms, material belongings, credentials, etc. (Cultural Capital). These aspects
of cultural capital are most obviously expressed
in stereotypes of the rich: playing golf on ones
own range, having a private jet, dressing in only
the most expensive brands, dining on caviar
and foie gras (regardless of whether you like it or
not)the list goes on.
While cultural capital helps us distinguish the
major levels of social hierarchy, Bourdieu concluded that cultural capital is most often used as
a way to separate those closestin social space
(Duffett 129). Anyone can tell the difference between those who are far apart in the class spectrum. However, something as subtle as knowing whether a good bottle of Beaujolais should
ever be served chilled can illuminate the differences between those who are in-the-know and
those who are not in the ever-shifting struggle

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for class dominance (129). Shared cultural capital

creates a sense of us and them. In Bourdieus
words, [t]aste classifies, and it classifies the classifier (Cultural Capital). Even in judging anothers taste, you define your own (Harman and
Jones 953).
In every culture, there is a new arbiter of
taste who determines whats in and whats out.
In todays culture, specifically for the generation
of Millennials, who is that arbiter of taste? Cue
the hipster.

DEFINING THE HIPSTER

You have probably observed hipsters in their
natural habitat: locking up a single-speed bicycle outside a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop with a
typewriter tucked away safely in a leather satchel. Todays incarnation of the hipster is clad in
ironic t-shirts, ankles bared by cuffed pants and
eyes framed by superfluous, large-rimmed glasses. When the term first originated in the 1940s,
the hipster was an embodiment of the white
predilection for black (jazz) culture (Schiermer
169). Since then, the term has been applied to
many distinct groups. To typical college student
Jonathon Roeder, the reason hipsters are constantly changing form is because they discover something underground and then share it
with friends until it becomes mainstream, like
the rock movement of the 1950s. That was a hipster thingevery big movement started out with
hipsters, just like grunge in the 90s and skaters.
Then it just becomes popular and mainstream
(Martin). Each decade, the hipster reappears in
a new form with the same mantra: be different.

Though they would deny it if asked, the hipster mentality has reappeared in the twenty-first
century as a subculture of people characterized
by a specific set of qualities. It is generally agreed
that the hipster is young, white and middle
class, typically between 20 and 35 years old

Hipsters resist the most basic aspect of popular culture: an

overwhelming quality of sameness or imitation. Because pop
culture is tremendously replicable, it creates a sort of black
hole that sucks people into unconscious imitation.

(Schiermer 170). Their look can be defined by bizarre and vintage fashion choices, with a general
inclination to shop for the old, the used, and the
forgotten. Hipsters frequent Goodwill and other
thrift shops to fulfill the cheap, stingy and gaudy aspects to the hipster aesthetic (170). There
are two key reasons why hipsters are drawn to
thrift stores. The first is economic: hipsters are
typically recent graduates with arts degrees. Like
many graduates, they often cant afford high-end
brands, and as a result, they shop at thrift shops
(Martin). The second reason is explained by Shalaka Gole, a self-proclaimed hipster: everything
uncool (lumpy sweaters, thrift stores, thickVOLUME 4

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(left) gdekartabilly /
Shutterstock.com
(right) solominviktor /
Shutterstock.com

framed glasses) is suddenly cool. For Gole,

shopping at thrift stores is a way to rebel against
the mainstream and feel superior to those who
dont. Together, both reasons say something important about the values of hipsterism. On the
one hand, thrift shopping is a practical consideration. On the other, it is a statement that defines
both the aesthetic and the ideology of hipsterism: being authentic, unique, and creative
is always superior to following the typical, uniform mainstream.

AUTHENTICITY VERSUS IMITATION

Hipsters resist the most basic aspect of popular
culture: an overwhelming quality of sameness
or imitation. Because pop culture is tremendously replicable, it creates a sort of black hole
that sucks people into unconscious imitation. To
Bjrn Schiermer, a researcher at the University
of Copenhagen, imitation is doing what others
do exclusivelybut unwittinglyfor the sake of
doing what others do (169). Schiermer uses his
concept of imitation to redefine the mainstream
and relate it to the hipsters purpose: living a perfectly authentic life.
If hipsters are to resist pop culture and the
mainstream, they must have weapons to stave
off ignorant imitation. Things that are commonplace are rarely original; the ability to craft the
world around them is a hipster talent that supports this sense of authenticity. Schiermer uses
the nerd figure to exemplify this creative authenticity. He argues that the nerd figure is central to
hipsterism because the nerd is the paradigma of
an authentic personality: He cannot adjust even
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if he wants to (171). Reinforcing their pursuit

of authenticity, the awkward glasses and sweater vests of the nerd have been deeply integrated
into modern hipster style.

IRONY AND SINCERITY: THE CYCLE

OF THE INITIATED
Hipsters revolve in a constant cycle between
inauthentic pop culture and authentic hipsterism. The relation between these two states is
expressed through irony, the tool hipsters use
to achieve the conversion from inauthentic to
authentic. As Schiermer argues, when one distances oneself from inauthenticity, one enters a
negative or reflective state (171). From negative, to cynical, to bitingly sarcastic, what starts
as inauthentic quickly devolves into the ironic.
In hipsterism, irony is a reaction to overt but
unconscious imitation (Schiermer 172).
Achieving the transition from the inauthentic, to the ironic, and, finally, to the authentic is
the true struggle the hipster faces. In his book
Sincerity, R. Jay Magill, Jr. scrutinizes objects such
as trucker hats, beards and mustaches, Pabst Blue
Ribbon beer, knit wool hats, wife-beater t-shirts,
youthful sneakers, and the previously discussed
nerdy glasses. He argues that all of these things
have complicated and totally non-hipster roots,
which makes them the perfect ironic statement.
Consider, for instance, the trucker hat: what
once evidenced an occupation (truck driving)
tied to low social standingnow invests its
college-educated wearerwith a bragging (and
misinformed) defiance of bourgeois standards
(Magill 215).

Another example of irony identified by Schiermer is tattooing. Although not all hipsters are
tattooed, those who are must make very definite
statements; a hipster tattoo can never be intentionally uniform (171). Hipsters can overcome
uniformity by either designing their own tattoos or choosing a clich tattoo. For example,
a kitschy sailor-style tattoo embodies what is
standard among a population while embracing a
certain scorn towards that same population (171).
Hipsters utilize irony in their style to separate themselves from imitable mainstream drivel,
but also as a means of identification. Hipsterism
is not an individual sport. Instead, it is a community of people where the successful understanding of an ironic remark creates instant social bonds and mistaken irony often creates
embarrassing and awkward situations (Schiermer 171). Hipsters use their irony to reveal their
superiority and gain leverage in their critique of
pop culture. Rather than actually rejecting the
dominant culture, a hipsters choices comment
on, protect, and even save that culture by redeeming and teaching us about those things that the
mainstream has left by the wayside.

THE ARCHAEOLOGIST AND THE

CURATOR
Picture an archaeologist, clad in khakis, digging
around in the dirt. Now cuff the pants, keep the
hat, change the shirt to flannel, and add glasses
and facial hair. We now have a hipster, digging
around in thrift stores. The role of an archaeologist is to study past human activity, and classical archaeologists do this research by recovering

and analyzing the material culture that was left

behind. Likewise, hipsters investment in the
past and its material culture is fueled by a similar
passion for things bygone. Like an archaeologist
studying and learning from ancient times, a hipster brings to the present artifacts that were once
new and cool but, due to the unrelenting nature
of consumer culture, have lost their mojo. As
they are rediscovered, these relics of the past regain authenticity and new cultural capital. Thus,
it is tasteful to wear your aunts fringe leather
jacket from her high school years, while it is uninspired to go buy a new, brand-name piece of

Hipsters revolve in a constant cycle between inauthentic pop

culture and authentic hipsterism. The relation between these
two states is expressed through irony, the tool hipsters use to
achieve the conversion from inauthentic to authentic.

the same style. Schiermer identifies a strong need

for redemption of the past in hipster culture,
as well as a veneration for dying media and old
technology (176).
And this veneration is not ironic. Schiermer
argues that such fascination with the past is more
than nostalgia or repetition but is directly related
to the search for an authentic experience. Recent
excavations have turned up the vinyl disc record, the cassette tape, the travelling typewriter, the traditional offset printing technique, the
conventional film camera and the old-school
photograph development (Schiermer 176). The

giorgiomtb /
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hipster values these objects that modern technology has left by the wayside because hipster culture saves sensibilities and experiences inherent to certain media; from the warm scratching
sound coming from the pickup in the groove to
the yellowed ambience of the old Polaroid photographs (176).
The hipster works against pop culture
through a specific cycle. The first stage is what
I would define as overpowering vanilla: the
breaking point of the mainstream, when pop
culture becomes huge and imitation becomes
all-powerful. Everyone is identical and unexceptional. Plain Vanilla. This prompts the hipster
to embark on a new archaeological exploration.
Sick of selfies, hipsters discovered Polaroid
pictures. As opposed to going along with what
music the radio says is popular, hipsters discovered record players and underground, decades-old music. With these newfound treasures,
the hipster shares the wealth of authenticity with
mainstream culture. This integration of the old
and the new, the cool and the overdone, will
eventually blend seamlessly into a new vanilla,
starting the entire cycle over again.
Not only do they excavate and decide what
is cool, hipsters also take on the task of keeping
this material in the public domain and safe for
future generations. Hipsters are liaisons between
past and present, either ironically burning the
objects of the recent past which deserve it or
redeeming authentic cultural expressions from
oblivion (Schiermer 178). Schiermer identifies a
certain snobbery in hipster culture, and labels
them collectors and connoisseurs (169). At its
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heart, then, hipster culture is a conserver culture (174).

By sharing her finds, the archaeologist becomes the curator. It is the traditional curators
task to manage, oversee, and preserve certain
institutions and aspects of cultural heritage. Curators educate the public and are often teachers
of secrets of the past. Hipster curators are also
tasked with bringing this knowledge back to the
mainstream. The hipster is thus involved in a
constant process of excavating and informing.
As they refurbish old, lost objects, hipsters in
turn gain status themselves. They then use this
higher position to justify their redemptive work:
reminding everyone else in times of cultural
decadence or fatigue that objects of the past are
unique and meaningful (169).
In order for culture to be redeemed, we need
the hipster to decide when the mainstream has
become too powerful and to take us back to a
simpler time. It is hipsters who decide when culture needs to change as well as how. In time, the
underground music or films or objects hipsters
discover and share will also become mainstream,
forcing the hipster back to work in archaeology. Thus, even as the hipster trend is commercialized, commercialization lays the foundation
for the next hipster trend that will change the
landscape of culture once again and lead to the
next reincarnation of the hipster. This seemingly
endless cycle explains the presence of the hipster figure throughout the decades and why, right
now, the hipster ethos is more alive than ever
(Schiermer 178).

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WORKS CITED
Cultural Capital. New Connections to Classical and Contemporary Perspectives: Social Theory Re-wired. Routledge. Jan.
2011. Web. 21 May 2014.
Duffett, Mark. Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.
Print.
Gole, Shalaka. Yes, We Hipsters Do Need Dose of Reality. Contra Costa Times 13 May 2012: D2. ProQuest. Web. 11
May 2014.
Harman, Sarah, and Bethan Jones. Fifty Shades of Ghey: Snark Fandom and the Figure of the Anti-Fan.

Sexualities 16.8 (2013): 95168. Print.

Magill, R. Jay. Sincerity: How a Moral Ideal Born Five Hundred Years Ago Inspired Religious Wars, Modern Art, Hipster Chic,
and the Curious Notion That We ALL Have Something to Say (No Matter How Dull). New York: Norton, 2012. Print.
Martin, Karen. Embracing Your Inner Hipster. University Wire 16 Jan. 2014: sec. Lifestyles: n. pag. Print.
Pop Culture. Urban Dictionary. Urban Dictionary. 2010. Web. 15 May 2014.
Saulo, Aurora A., Howard R. Moskowitz, and Abigail S. Rustia. Going Mainstream: What Does it Truly Mean
Anyway? Journal of Food Products Marketing 19.3 (2013): 15375. Print.
Schiermer, Bjrn. Late-Modern Hipsters: New Tendencies in Popular Culture. Acta Sociologica 57.2 (2014): 16781.
Print.

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