Everybody Hates Hipsters

Everybody also hates blog posts about hipsters. But I'm trying not to care too much about what other people think so I'll elaborate on my thoughts about hipsters, even if it means being labelled one.

Hipsters weren't always regarded with a proverbial groan. The term hipster was originally associated with the jazz subculture in the 1940s. It was a positive term. Unfortunately, in contemporary society anything perceived to be 'hip' or out of the norm is associated with negative connotations. Thus, the genesis of hipster: our western society's backwards views on subcultures and intellect.

Indeed, the second you bring up the topic of 'hipsters' you're setting yourself up for a long conversation that will never really go anywhere nor ever define the term. Because a 'hipster' can no longer be defined. Everybody is a hipster because everybody can be classified as 'hip' or superior in a cultural or intellectual way to another individual.

Well, nearly everybody. Probably not these people:

But let's just pretend they don't exist.

So basically 'hipster' is just a catch-all phrase for anybody who threatens another person's intellect and cultural superiority. Instead of trying to understand each other's complexities, the non-hipster in this hypothetical scenario will just slap on the dreaded hipster label to compensate for the non-hipster's insecurities.

But even if you are the person labelling a hipster a hipster you're still a hipster to somebody.

That's the reason the hipster label has caught so much ground in the last five to ten years. It gives insecure people the opportunity to downgrade people with electric tastes or superior intellect to them because they do not understand these cultural trends - leading to confusion, anger and the hipster labelling.

You don't have good taste in music. You don't dress in a creative way. You're not smart. You're a hipster.

Sometimes the hipster label is justified, which just confuses the entire situation. There are plenty of people who dress in a certain way or claim to enjoy certain books or movies as a means of creating an empty persona.

I guess that's what happens in a society where everybody is taught to be different and creative. We all inevitably all end up looking the same and saying the same things because that is most people's interpretations of being 'different' and 'creative' - wearing a fake moustache or a vintage dress. It's a matter of intention, really.

Honestly, what is funny about moustaches? Absolutely nothing. Unless you have some intense obsession with the aesthetic appeal of moustaches there is absolutely no reason to slap the image on all of your belongings.

Except if you're trying to follow a cultural trend. Except if you're a hipster.

This is where a lot of the anger surrounding the hipster label comes from. The people who are genuinely involved in cultural sub-groups or at least believe they are, end being pigeonholed with the people who do not understand the cultural trends they're parading.

There is no solution here; there is no way to tell who is real and who is a hipster. There is only your personal judgment and that is never a good thing. Judging a person by what they wear or what band they listen to is probably the most quintessential hipster aspect.

See what I mean? Everybody is a hipster.

Awkward Introductions

So I had a job interview yesterday, which involved some awkward introductions. They asked me to tell them 'about myself,' the precise topic of this blog post. I instantly retreat to my most professional sounding label, a university student studying creative writing in my third and final year of my undergraduate degree. Then - blank. What else about myself could these strangers possibly want to know?

That I own over fifty pairs of socks and sort them by colour scheme in gift boxes purchased for $2 at those Book Bargain sales things because my draws are too crowded with vintage and Japanese clothes to fit anything else? Probably not.

That I stay back at the library every working day of the week until 9pm to do work and then do absolutely nothing on the weekend but party hard and sleep (sometimes I don't do that) all in the name of 'life experience'? Definitely not.

So I continue to stretch out my university babbling as much as I can and annotate it with, "Oh and I love music of course." That probably would have been a good thing to mention at the beginning of our awkward introduction considering this a job interview to work for a music website.

They elaborate on the many potential responsibilities I'll have as an employee for them, which eventually brings us to the topic of social media and thus, the genesis of this blog.

A few weeks ago I had a lecture where our guest lecturer championed the Twitter account as a necessity for any budding writer, that is, if any of us wanted to work in the writing industry and successfully stalk our way into a job. I needed a Twitter account not to connect with any of my friends, but with a whole bunch of strangers and faceless companies. My tone may sound dubious and slightly scornful, but nevertheless, after the lecture finished I scrambled to the nearest computer to create a Twitter account. I have maybe two or three friends from the real world actually following me. The rest are strangers.

Which brings me back to this job interview with strangers and awkward introductions. They grilled me on social media, to which my meek response was, "Oh yeah, I have a Facebook account and I just got twitter."

"Do you tweet much?"

"..."

"What about Tumblr? Instagram?"

"Uh, I don't really take photos, so....I'm not really a photographer."

:S

That's basically how it went down. I'm pretty sure I won't get that job on the basis that I haven't got a plethora of social media personas, which is how I ended up here, on Blogger, with this extremely awkward and rambling introduction. But I hope maybe you'll give me more of a chance then my interviewers.

So this is me folding to the pressure to have something more meaningful to say about myself in a job interview. I don't really believe I will find my 'self' with the aid of social media to better construct my persona (and for the whole world to see) and by parading these ideals to a whole bunch of strangers on the internet. In fact, I don't really know what this is even for.

I like to believe I'm not as self indulgent as the majority of people active on social media and so I'm not the kind of girl who is going to take selfies of herself with a coy tagline. I don't take photos of my food, or anything really, as you know from this brief and awkward introduction. I am writer, but I don't really plan on putting my stories on this thing either because, well, I'm ambitious and want to make money off them. I guess when I feel like whining about something, babbling obsessively about something that excites me too much to merely talk about it with my mum, or giving flippant ideas a home before they become novels, well, I guess that's this will be for.

This is an experiment for me. I figure, if I can maintain a blog reasonably, well that means I am responsible enough to smuggle a pet into my apartment.

I can't promise I'll be a particularly good blogger. I'm great at starting things, but terrible at finishing at them. Most of my diaries have one entry in them and are then abandoned into the abyss of my bedroom. But like any stranger you meet on the internet, or even in real life I can promise I will pop into your life from time to time and say hi.