The Modern Hipster

Hipster: noun 

1. One who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed cool by the cool. The Hipster walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them and shuns or reduces to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream. - The Hipster Handbook

2. The term "hipster" is cross-applied from the 1930s Beatniks. The modern hipster is a composite of individuals with a certain bohemian life situation and lifestyle. He or she rejects "mainstream" culture and embraces and contributes to independent culture, and prides him/herself on this.- Urban Dictionary


There are many opinions over the modern millennial hipster. While a wide variety of hipsters exist with varying morals, attitudes, and ideals, most of American opinion deems Hipster as a negative connotation to bear. Hipster has come to be known as a fruitless fad full of people following unwritten rules in fashion, music, and "quirky" lifestyles to fit into a stereotype. It has been taken so far as to invoke countless parodies in the forms of books, blogs, websites, tv shows, and even video games that mock the modern millennial hipster.   

The show Portlandia features various skits exploring the lifestyles of the different subcultures that can be found in Portland Oregon. The plethora of hipsters are portrayed by the two main leads in a comedic form exaggerating each stereotype: such as the straw feminists that run The Feminist Bookstore: Candace and Toni. The owners of the bookstore only stock obscure novels by women, drink weird tea, and rage (which Candace does emotionally) about their injustices and daily persecutions, and about male privilege. 

Another character, Spike, represents the punk rock lifestyle. He is highly opinionated as he rides around town rampaging over what is "over." Two characters even go on a journey to a commune to find out how organic their chicken being served to them at the restaurant is.

The Hipster Handbook satirizes the hipster lifestyle as well. They provide a glossary to help better understand the exclusive words deemed cool (Note: it is no longer recommended that one use the term "cool"; a Hipster would instead say "deck." -Hipster Handbook), explain the hipster work ethic, and clues for discovering wether or not you are a hipster such as whether or not "You frequently use the term "post-modern" (or its commonly used variation "PoMo") as an adjective, noun, and verb."