11
In my first paper, I defined hip as a word that describes something that is ‘cool’ or ‘trendy’. The hard thing about being hip though is that it is constantly changing; one day it may be hip to wear bell bottom jeans and the next it may be jeggings. Since this paper, we have learned a lot more history about the word such as its hippie origins or how it is so easily influenced by music. We have also discussed how a hipster is not necessarily a hip person but occasionally the opposite. Some feel that a hipster is a person that likes to follow fashion or musical trends. Whereas the greater majority of others believe that hipsters tend to do the opposite and purposefully go against the grain listening to unknown bands and wearing disjointed clothing. I tend to agree with the later definition. Sure the word hipster contains the word hip but in reality I find hipsters to be individualistic creatures, people that wear funky clothes and act as if they don’t care what the world thinks.
For our next paper we are asked again to describe what hip means. In this paper, I will take a similar stance as described above and as I took in my first paper. Hip is essentially anything that is currently in fashion. I will elaborate on this to say that it varies depending on location, time period, and the element of a trend that one is analyzing. I will also touch on the fact that at the moment, it’s hip to be a hipster or unhip. Today, people are super focused on being individualistic. They demonstrate this by wearing clothes or styles that you don’t typically see in big box stores. However, to add to the confusion major retailers have picked up on this fad and are currently trying to sell clothes that meet such grunge or vintage standards. I will finish the paper by discussing how we are in somewhat of a conundrum for hip as it seems that we have exhausted be hip to the point where there are few more options.
Week 12: I understand the points you make about how hipsters aren’t necessarily “hip” though they are often given that definition. I think they can be viewed in both ways, though it depends on the person. Personally, I think today’s “hipster" goes along with the mainstream trends and fashions, but isn’t what I would consider a "true hipster”. I agree more with your definition that an actual hipster would be someone who has individualistic qualities and who is rebellious but “in the know”. This is a slightly different approach from my definition of hip, so I find it interesting that you focused more intently on the term “hipster”, though I think it’s good that you mention how the definition has changed from the past and how it is easily manipulated by music. Overall, I think you give a great understanding of the definition of the word “hip” and “hipster” from “then” to now.
Week 12: To start with, I personally enjoyed the ideas you began with. In my original paper I also originally concluded that the definition of “hip” was difficult to pinpoint because it is constantly changing with the times. The cool and hip trends of today could very possibly be the past tomorrow, especially with our constantly growing society. The Point that I really wanted to talk about though was your point about society today being focused on the idea of individualism. In this era of constant change and innovation, the idea of individualism has positioned itself as the forefront of hip culture. Every entity on the internet is pushing us, its viewers, to be more than the status quo. To be “hip” in this day and age is to be an individual, and those things that define you as an individual also can now define you as a person of a stereotype.
