I’m confused. It seems no one likes the word hipster, and many people argue it should be exiled. Hamilton Nolan at Gawker is not a fan. Foster Kamer at the Village Voice thinks it’ silly. Bucky Turco of ANIMAL definitely wishes the word would go away forever and never come back.
And though Kamer wrote today that “Hamilton Nolan at Gawker condemned use of the word hipster in December, praying for it to end,” people still use it. A lot. Just today Nolan used it three times in his copy, and once in a photo.
Maybe people are using the word wrong, and that rankles people. But it does have a use, and it does apply to certain people. Kamer brushed against it’s true meaning when he wrote that “maybe” it applies to an “enclave in whatever part of your town is being gentrified by the moneyed children of baby boomers.” Not maybe. Most likely. Particularly if, in an effort to distance oneself from the class you belong to, one appropriates the culture and norms of those less fortunate with no desire or attempt made to truly be a part of that community. That’s a fucking hipster. The word is derogatory. It does have meaning. And it should be used.
