By Joe Duncan | Echo
Betrayed by their lust for Abbey coffee and Arcade Fire, our folksy friends on campus have made dutiful exploration into the art of the obscure. These quaint citizens have been branded by their enemies with the abhorrent word "hipster." It is an abomination no right-minded person would ever call himself; such an accusation sparks bitter denial and shattered friendships. Nevertheless, the growing population of mom-shorts, camp caps, hammocks, fixies, flowery headbands and horn-rimmed glasses would suggest that granola-munching madness has successfully dominated Taylor's campus.
Reminiscent of beatniks and hippies, this art-endowed gang has garnered considerable backlash to the supposed attitude they represent. In response, I decided to search for the consummate hipster, in order to understand the building blocks of this student at Taylor.
Complaints against hipsters are harsh, including "self-involved" and "pretentious."
"(Hipsters have a) general lifestyle of elitism and a distaste for the mainstream," says Patrick Hubbard, a sophomore in Wengatz.
Another explained that these students do whatever it takes to be opposite of mainstream.
Others reproached the freethinkers for engaging in activities for the sake of being different and not for pure enjoyment.
Ironically, many of the people who classified the word "hipster" as being synonymous with beanies, low-lights, depressing music and coffee, enjoyed these same things. Upon further questioning, these students said they were nothipster because they were not arrogant about their interests. It seems arrogance is the only real qualifier of a Taylor hipster, and no one would admit to being better than everyone else-so, I abandoned my search.
In my opinion, the word "hipster," like "jock" or "nerd," is just a nonsensical label placed arbitrarily on art-enthusiasts' foreheads. Classifications only relate a single side of people, endeavoring to reduce individuals to the size of trends. Basically, mocking hipsters is pooh-poohing the idea that being different is good.
Honestly, I agree with the nay-sayers: I would much rather everyone listened to pop and read romance novels-then everyone would be on the same page. Seriously though, the transaction of new ideas, music, books and art can be one of the most beautiful aspects of being at college and living in a dorm. If "hipsters" are willing to (humbly) share their obscure tastes, then we should be grateful. Creation and expression are, by nature, individual endeavors, and to propagate the idea that everyone should only be different to a certain extent isarrogance.
The hipster community is harangued for becoming too large: hipster isn't hipster anymore when everyone's a hipster. Yet, the endeavor for beautiful ideas and new music should be a prerogative regardless of whether it's a fad. Much like hippies, hipsters will eventually fade, but the desire to forge a new road in thought will always be there. Engaging every opportunity to embrace new ideas, music, books, art and philosophies keeps us aware of ourselves, and saves us from the poisons of dogmatism and self-righteousness.
