QUEZON City, Philippines (February 12) – Thick rimmed glasses, beard for men, skinny and sometimes ripped jeans, vintage clothes, and messy hair don’t care fashion.
The term hipster was coined in 1940s, during the war when there is racial division. It was to reject the societal norms and mainstream to have a sense of individuality. The middle class white American youths seeks to a more carefree and opposite way to live life. During this time the jazz music from the African Americans were in hit. The Americans idolized and imitate the lifestyle of musicians they idolized that lead to fusion of hipster culture, characterized as people who love jazz.
Other than the taste of music, hipster is also a state of mind. Norman Mailer described the American hipsters of 1940s to be someone that is “divorce[d] from society, to exist without roots, to set out on that uncharted journey into the rebellious imperatives of the self”
Another definition is by urbandictionary.com, they defined hipsters as “a subculture of men and women typically in their 20’s and 30’s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter”.
From the definitions, we could say that hispterism is a state of individuality. Hipsters do not go with the flow. They intake, digest and think critically before accepting ideologies and concepts. The magic bullet power of media does not affect the hipsters. They disagree with the promotion of ideal beauty like a woman is considered beautiful if she has a vital statistic of 36’24’36 or being a man depends on his abs, biceps and the number of hours he spend in gym.
The hipsterism is a fashion statement, a state of mind and a taste in music- is a revolutionary preference. Is it bad not to go with the flow? According to micar.com, “the real ones, which have values and beliefs that lead them to live more sustainable lives. The real hipster buys second hand clothes for economic reasons. They source their food more carefully, they care about fair trade. Their interest in alternative culture means that they listen to less well known bands or artist. Their creativity shows in their fashion sense and in the way they bring old fashion practices into modern day. This people are not trying to be cool, they just are.”
Living life is not about preference and trends. It doesn’t matter as long you are living with what is right. You have to respecting yourself and others’ beliefs and preference. At the end of the day, coolness is not the parameter of a happy life.
References:
http://www.micar.com/origins-of-the-hipster/
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hipster
(written by Karen Llacuna, edited by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Lovely Ann Cruz)
