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Thank you! I'm a student at our lovely Portland State University, a liberal arts school whose football team probably didn't even win games during the Reagan Administration and certainly doesn't win them now. I once slung the H-word around like it was my duty as a citizen. This is, in fact, because (unbeknownst to me at the time, or at least vehemently denied by myself) I'm a hipster. Last year I decided to do a research paper on hipster culture to try to put a final definition to this nebulous, far-reaching, and self-denying subculture. The most illuminating product of this was the realization that there is nothing wrong with being a hipster, or at least falling into many of its stereotypes. I now use it as a complement for the most part, and I hoist my hipster banner high above my head. Thank you again for finding the truth that I found and having the voice to let Portland know that it can embrace itself as the hipster mecca that it is.

Sorry in advance, but hipster apologies like this nauseate me just as much as hipster bashing. Yes, it is hard to define what a hipster is, at least in the way people try. It's too abstract of a thing to define in sociological terms. Between myself and my friends, we understand what sort of people they refer to, can generally agree on who is and who is not a hipster, and generally do not use the term pejoratively. It's useless to try to get into nitty gritty details about which band they love or hate, whether they do blow or not, or whether or not they ride a fixie, because the real essence is this: a hipster is not a sociological clique as the Hipster Handbook makes it out to be. That book is an intentional farce. Rather, I would say that a hipster defined psychologically, being a person who is typically insecure (perhaps to the point of dysfunction), believes they are creative (whether they are or not), and has a distinct tendency to avoid any sort of externally imposed sociological schema. These features account for most of the externally observed features that people try to pin on hipsters. For instance, they tend to flock together, because they are too insecure to be challenged by radically different ideas. This is why you get people complaining about hipsters 'taking over'. They also account for why most hipsters will vehemently deny being a hipster or act like they don't know what you're talking about; they are trying to avoid being compartmentalized. Of course, they do so by isolating themselves within their own circles of friends and try to spontaneously generate some sort of culture from within. This then leads them to be labelled as hipsters, which is the real irony of hipsterdom. I think my theory is further evidenced by people that have a lot of 'hipster' traits, as in the music they listen to, or the clothes that they wear, but I would not call a hipster because they don't care if the Columbia jacket they wear is not hip since it keeps them warm, or they like to watch basketball because they enjoy doing so (and not for the irony). These people tend to be secure enough in their own way of being that they aren't afraid to embrace tradition or mainstream culture when it genuinely pleases them, and thus they comprise a fringe of people that the average person would call a hipster who collectively muddy the idea of what a hipster is and further the notion that hipster defines people just like mod or punk or what have you. These terms are meaningless when you try to apply them to hipsters. Anyway, that's my take.

I think it's interesting that though the H-word has been punched about quite a bit the last few years, while "Scenester" has fallen out of style .......

Ah wait! Before I rant, first, self disclosure; I am a 40 year old Grunge-Punk-Nerd, who as lived all of his life either in, or somewhere in between, Seattle and Portland. I have lived the last twelve years in Portland, having moved from Seattle, along with many other friends who believed that Seattle had a gotten a little too smug, and big for its britches. I have fond memories of the Portland of the 80's, when you only went to Sand & Burnside for a punk show at the then Pine Street Theater, or for hookers and heroin. A Portland where there was only one brewery in town, Henry's, and feral Skinheads ran wild.

Over the past decades each counter culture group has had the 1% component that lead, created, and contributed to the "scene", while the other 99% simply followed, copied, and consumed. This was true of the Hippies, Punks, and its true now. Only this time the passive consumer portion of the counter culture has been singled out, in the form of the Hipster.

To me, you're a "Scenester" if you're an active participant of a Scene, by being a hands on leader, organizer, contributer, and/or creator. If you make art, you're an Artist, in the Art Scene. If you make music, you're a musician. And the same is true whether you're a Derby Girl, Art Bike Freak, Burner, and etc.

The Hipsters, are those people essentially who do nothing for any of these said Scenes, except show up and enjoy consuming the creative work of other people. They contribute nothing, except their physical presence and maybe a cover fee. Hipsters are merely Poser Philistines, with "hip" taste. With all that being said, it should be clear then that Hipsters are an essential part of an ecosystem like Portland. Alberta artists need hipsters, because that's who buys their wares, and etc.

So I don't think its ironic or hypocritical for someone who clearly looks like a hipster, claiming to be no such thing, because that person may have some other word that fits more appropriately based off what they "do", i.e. artist, musician, bar owner, and etc. If they "do" nothing, then they're are a slacker/hipster. The "Unique Portland Scene" has evolved into a somewhat cookie cutter kind of atmosphere that seems to cater more to the "me too" Hipsters. This I think illustrated very well, by Bishop's Barbershops and The Chesterfield(which have common ownership), which are complete, shameless, detail for detail, carbon copies of establishments in Seattle.(I am amazed there hasn't been more discussion of this fact, btw)

Having lived in Seattle from 87-94(I was THERE, Man!) and seeing Seattle's precarious rise in coolness, and final settlement into status of "cool, nice, big city", I was worried about what path Portland would take. Over the last ten years or so, Portland was becoming a mecca for many Pre-Hipsters, due to being a cool city where slackers could gingerly survive, if not thrive, unlike places like Seattle, San Fran, Austin, and NYC, due to the higher cost of living.

I think the crash of the economy has brought a bit of a reprieve to the Portland Slacker/Hipster, who was well on his/her way to being priced out, and being forced to seek(avoid) their fortunes in places like Tacoma, Spokane, or Boise. But be at ease, since so many folks are loosing their jobs, there will be that many more people in coffee shops sprucing up their resumes, and then heading to the bars in the mid afternoon. Thus increasing the need for more Bartenders and Baristas.

I do think the "Hipster" effect has finally taken Portland to the point where it has "Jumped The Shark", if you will. Because when you reach a critical mass of hipsters(double meaning pun!), it ceases to be a "Scene". I do think Portland has this Touristy Colonial Williamsburg quality about it now. It's as if there should be an entry in the Fodor's Guide To Portland that reads, ".... at any time feel free to approach anyone you see wearing a black hoodie, if you need directions to the nearest bathroom. Don't be put off by their passive aggressive aloof manner, because they are merely staying in character..."

"Keep Spokane Weird!"

The generations of people who generally fall in the age brackets affording hipsterdom all came of age at what some have called "the end of history" - things had perfected themselves, all artistic expressions had been achieved (i.e. 'been done before'), all the criticisms had been voiced, judged and either rejected or accepted.

the earliest manifestations of the "hipster" culture began as what others have called "temporary autonomous zones," brief and joyous respites from the dominating culture of the masses . these moments sometimes developed into more lasting collectives or 'scenes' - but by this time, Big Culture was always watching for the next thing and Big Culture always catches on sooner or later - - thats when the freshness fades, it becomes a part of that same stream of dead, self-replicating culture and we get bored.

really it was the apathy. why bother? the boredom lead us to other things, or maybe to despair. then this despair fueled its own culture, its own message and we felt something again but that too, co-opted. 'commercialized' as we became so keen to say.

and it happened/happens again and again

and so from out of this endless re-definition of finding those things that one can relate to, feel connected with, things that make you feel good or expressive in some other way, things that you deem worthwhile (or more simply put, things that are cool) -- out of this impossible fight against the great commercialization of all cultures and subcultures (the assumption here being that when Big Culture takes, it replicates in a more or less soulless fashion) comes the hipster.

the tastes of the hipster can encompass a wide variety of disparate elements and are never fully defined. they are always subject to change without warning. maybe its a defense mechanism. criticisms will abound of course, but their is an underlying desire to have a malleable culture that is resistant (not fully) to the grubby hands of the mass culture. this is also where some of the defensive elements often attributed to hipsters come from.

the hipster comes out of a wider popular culture that eats anything that can be used to make a profit, it plays its role (we learned well enough that its no use to fight it - they will only sell your rebellion right back to you) so it plays along, it hasn't the illusions that it's a culture thats going to change anything, it just a game - finding things it likes along the way.

should it really be that reprehensible for people to be drawn to similar things?

we came out of the same disillusionment, boredom and frustration - and, thanks to technologies old and new we can always rebuild our sense of identity and culture but this time we won't be as stupid to think we are the first or even the last.

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... wtf is with all the long winded responses? You'd think we were asked to write our own articles... At any rate, all I have to say is ::clears throat:: hipster fag.

I've been called a hipster many times, so perhaps it's time to take stock... art degree, black hoodie and Chuck Taylors, Weezer-ish glasses and Doug Fir, yes; cocaine, 2% body fat, extensive collection of vinyl and disdain for the h-word, no. So I guess this makes me a semi-hipster. I can live with that.

That makes you a remorseless tool, actually.
And I'm sure you can live with that too.