The Rise of The Hipster Subculture Among Millennials: a Study

Swimming Up Mainstream: The Hipster Culture

Every generation has had its movements and fads among young people. After women got the right to vote, they experienced new, scandalous freedoms in the 1920s in which they strove to be modern and fashionable. After World War II, disgruntled young people were magnetized toward movements like civil rights and women’s liberation. Their hair became longer and views more radical when they were called “hippies” in the 1970s. In the 1990s, style was edgier and grungier. What fad has dominated the twenty-first century? The rebels of the 2010s are the hipsters: the thrift-store shoppers, indie music junkies, and do-it-yourselves. In the past few years, this movement has grown from a passing fad to an entire subculture among millennials. So how has the hipster culture become so popular?

First, the term “hipster” is not clearly defined. One person might say a hipster is someone who follows all the latest trends, while another might think it is someone who has his own unique style. The term “hipster” can define a wide spectrum of people; therefore, what makes a hipster a hipster is ambiguous. Does a “true” hipster follow the latest trends, or does he invent his own, unconventional fashion? Since the hipster style has become fashionable among younger people, a hipster can be someone who follows popular trends; however, a hipster can also be someone who has his own unique, if not odd, style, in thought, appearance, and overall lifestyle. The more the term hipster is used, the broader its definition becomes. An individual who still follows the nineties grunge style might still be considered a hipster because of his unique style, even though he does not fit into the twenty-first century hipster stereotype. Since the definition of who a hipster really is unclear, there are different hipster subcultures making the culture broader and more diverse.

Mainstream culture, especially music, has also played a part in popularizing the hipster lifestyle. The stereotypical hipster would find this ironic since he tends to live outside of the mainstream - or at least he likes to think he does. For example, folk and indie music became popular in the early 2010s when bands like Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, and The Civil Wars released platinum albums and chart-topping singles. Indie rock bands like Imagine Dragons suddenly rose to stardom and entered the mainstream culture. This is an almost seismic shift compared to the rap and hip-hop that was popular less than ten years ago. What is difficult to determine is whether the music inspired the hipster or the hipster inspired the music. There is no way to truly find out how the movement came so suddenly into the mainstream except that it was propelled by the public.

The hipster mentality is very independent and inventive, which is a change from American’s thought patterns in the past. Instead of doing things the way he has always done it, a hipster asks, “Why have we always done it that way when this way is so much easier?” The “do-it-yourself”, or DIY, mentality comes mainly from the progressive beliefs of hipsters. The movement stresses what makes someone unique. Hipsters pursue what they are passionate about without fear of judgment or failure. Americans are becoming even more independent and individualistic, so it is easy for them to feed off of this belief. A person thinks he is special when he listens to a band his friend has never heard of, or wears drastically different clothes than his classmates. In a world of seven billion people, one wants to somehow feel important. By deviating from the norm, hipsters have inspired this individuality and new way of thinking.

The hipster culture has become popular because it has not been clearly defined, has been influenced by popular culture, and stresses the importance of the individual. The modern hipster has not been around for a long time, but most of them are young and are emerging as leaders and activists in the modern world. Their culture encourages uniqueness and creativity, a welcome change for millennials who feel that tradition has become too harsh and rigid. Every decade or so America sees a shift in the way young people think and behave, and their ideas and beliefs have stuck around. After all, women in the 1920s changed the lifestyles of future generations of women, and young people in the 1960s changed the lives of a whole race of people. Maybe the hipster is just another passing fad, or maybe it has inspired America’s culture enough that it is here to stay.