Millenium hippies

by Dorothy Griffith

“My favorite part about life these days is the ability to complain about it online.”—@hipstermermaid

First they were beatniks. Then rock-n-roll fans, hippies, punks, rappers and more. Every generation has its version of counter culture and ours is no exception.

Today’s seemingly rebellious youth have come to be known as “hipsters.” They are characterized by an interest in lesser-known music and an eclectic fashion sense. They are young, intelligent, creative, politically knowledgeable and tech savvy. Most importantly, however, they are easy to mock.

In the article “Hipsters” by Dan Fletcher for Time Magazine, he defines the term as one used “to describe a generation of middle-class youths interested in an alternative art and music scene. But instead of creating a culture of their own, hipsters proved content to borrow from trends long past.” He uses their fashion sense as an example of this, saying: “Take your grandmother’s sweater and Bob Dylan’s Wayfarers, add jean shorts, Converse All-Stars and a can of Pabst and bam — hipster.”

But as much fun as hipsters have being hip, hipster-haters have even more fun making fun of them. The increase in the popularity of hipsters has spawned numerous parody sites, blogs and Twitter accounts that take joy in mocking the hipster-esque style of elitist cultural commentary and disillusionment with societal norms.

Unhappy Hipsters, for example, is a blog with the tagline “It’s Lonely in The Modern World” that takes pictures from modern interior design catalogs and gives them overly dramatic captions.

Hippesthipster and @hipstermermaid are Twitter accounts that pose as hipsters, tweeting fake commentary about what they deem to be the hardships of their trendy lives and their opinions of the failures of society. These accounts espouse things such as: “the hardest part of my day is getting my ear buds untangled” and “steve urkel was a fashion icon” (hippesthipster), or “To do list: 1- Untag unflattering pictures of myself. 2- “Like” various pretentious things. 3- Convince internet I’m interesting” and “I’m double-majoring in art and unemployment” (@hipstermermaid).

How long this trend will last is unknown. Will hipsters go the way of beatniks and hippies, eventually moving on and outgrowing their rebellious phases? Only time will tell. But until then, I’m going to enjoy the hilarious entertainment that it provides as I read through my Twitter timeline.