6.  Hipster view of hipsters

These are some of the issues that arise when one consults the outsider’s view of the hipster lifestyle.  But how do hipsters view themselves?  On that score I have very little data.  What little I have comes from a series of interviews I did recently with members of the hipster colony in the Mission District of San Francisco.  These interview data represent their response to the questions I put to them.

When I asked the question: “Who or what is a hipster?”  they gave the following answers:

“Hipster” is a general term for many different kinds of young people.  It is a term that “the outside” puts on us young people.  We don’t call ourselves hipsters, but if asked point blank whether we are, we don’t mind being called that.  “Hipster” is mainly a fashion style statement, (e.g. retro clothes from thrift stores), that depicts a life style marked by irony.  Hipsterism is a deeply personal life style, i.e. each of us hipsters follows his/her own individual approach to life, a style of living that cannot be characterized as group behaviour.  We do not join groups for social action of any kind.  We tend to congregate together with other like-minded young people in groups for support, as here in the Delores Park in Mission.  But each of us just wants to be him or herself.

When asked what motivates them to live this hipster life style they did not want to disclose what is inside of them.  That belongs to each of us alone, they said.  On the other hand, they were willing to state that hipsters are mostly young people who are socially progressive and anti-mainline culture.  Furthermore, they stressed that they are serious about becoming adults, but they insist on taking time to sort things out before they settle down.  They also wanted to lay to rest the myth as if hipster young people are just a bunch of dummies.  All young people in the park here, they said, are highly educated, even over educated for the work they are doing.  Finally, they think that the reason why older people cannot understand younger people is because of a communication problem that exists between the generations due to age differences.  So, they appreciate it very much when an older person takes the time to try to understand them.