It makes me pitiful — emo - kid sad . Why do so many self - predicate oddball accommodate so much patronage for so - called hipsters ?
Geeks are — bymost definitions — obsessive . Sure , there are garden - variety geek who are interested in computers , videogames , and science fabrication , but we ’ve generally come to accept that hoi polloi can geek out on just about anything : sewing machines ; exobiology ; Brassica rapa farming . To geek is to love .
Hipsters are — bymost defintions — dismissive . They separate through the debris of pop civilisation , appropriate what they find appealing in its quirkiness , cultivate an aesthetic that considers all but allows surprisingly little . To be hipster is to detest .
Unfortunately , neither of those stereotypes are terribly utilitarian when it get along to judging individuals — a lesson one would recall geeks would have consider to mettle , particularly if their obsessivity made them outcast when they were younger , before they ’d plant likeminded people in existent life-time or online .
I think about this a circle , because depending on how you slice up it , I am both a oddball and a hipster .
I play a batch of games , both electronic and tabletop . I like indie pop . I brew my own beer . I also go out of my way to traverse down exotic beers from other countries and brag about my discoveries . I wear off boneheaded glasses . I have floofy bangs and have been known to wear vintage clothing . I think bicycles are one of the greatest innovation of mankind , second only perhaps to wheel that have more than one gear .
And while few of my more hipstery friend could n’t give a blabber ’s ass about my geekier hobbies ( let alone job ) , I bear on to amazed athow readily we ’ve acceptedthe rise of a unconditional brush - off that demeans and trivialise a person ’s choices . The full term “ hipster ” can be dashed off without a 2d thought and is accepted by most as a fairish critique , even if those same people would bristle at the use of “ dumb jock ” or “ geeky nutcase ” .
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Geeks should be among the most accepting of others , I ’d think , because so many of us know what it was like not to be accepted . ( And yes , I ’m paint geekdom with a broad encounter while make believe the same item about not doing that of others . If you were a socially - adroit geek when you were mature up , you ’re exactly the sort of stereotype - traverse soul who evinces the frangibility of stereotypes in the first place . )
I suppose the most damnatory matter about using “ hipster ” as an epithet is that it does n’t really mean anything . It ’s just big ornateness . At most , anticipate someone a hipster means that the objective of your ire does something you do n’t prefer . More often than not it ’s simply picking on someone for their choice of wear . Can it get more childish than that ?
There ’s nothing wrong with trying to be coolheaded or trying to dress fashionably , provide it does n’t specify you . Or hell , maybe that ’s okay , too . It ’s certainly no more self - obsessional than building starships in Minecraft or spending time of day prepare a costume of a videogame eccentric . It may not be your poisonous substance , but it ’s pretty tremendous to make bold that your particular fetishized hobby is higher-ranking to someone else’s — especially if you first dive into that hobby as a respite from feeling like you had to know the same life as everyone else .
acknowledge that no one really calls themselves a flower child . It ’s because the people you think are hipsters do n’t cerebrate of themselves that way of life . They ’re only people living a sure lifestyle , cast to and fro by trends and fashions just like everyone else , who more often than not are into things that many ego - predicate eccentric person are also into . ( I ’ve always liked the prank that “ the only definition of a hippy is a somebody who hates hipsters . ” )
I guess I ’m just suggest that if you ’re really going to be an asshole to someone you do n’t know , attacking their avocation or manner is about as high school as it gets . At least attack their line of reasoning ! The iteration , abusive cycle of low - uncommon - denominator intimidation is just turning you into the person who you lay claim to despise .
Illustration by our Contributing IllustratorSam Spratt . hold out Sam’sportfolioand become a fan of hisFacebook Artist ’s Page .
Meet Our Contributing Illustrator : Sam Spratt
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