Well, retroism isn't a word, but you know what I mean. The perceived relationship between hipsters and everything retro.
The common conception of "hipster" is someone who goes out of their way to be different in every way to the "mainstream" community, possibly even going so far as to vilify things they previously liked upon reaching the mainstream crowd. That's what people think they are, and what they imagine when linking things to them, so let's go with that.
While this does sound to me like an overstatement, I'll concede it's entirely possible for such a group to exist, and if they do, okay. But what irritates me is the sudden link between anything retro, and hipsterism (according to my spell checker, that one actually is a word). I mean a lot of people probably have retro aspects to their lives, and they wouldn't be classified as hipsters. A good example is in Scott Pilgrim. Yeah, he's pretty much a hipster, and Ramona even more so. He's in an underground band, etc. But it's annoying to me when people (when listing his hipsterish factors) list "oh, and he's a retro gamer!"
Even my friend (obsessed with Scott Pilgrim, and even before that, retro games) makes this mistake. The guy isn't playing them to be different, he's playing them because he obviously prefers them to modern games. Beyond gaming, it's evident in people's sense of fashion. Any piece of retro clothing I've seen get branded an act of hipsterism. This one's particularly close to home, as I collect hats. I do miss the world where I could prance around in a fez or a top hat without being typecast. We have a word for it, "retro", so it's obviously its own thing. I've even seen someone claim that rolling your own cigarettes was hipster. How? It's just an old practice. My dad rolls his own, and it's to my understanding (although I don't smoke) that to do so gives you a fresher and higher quality product.
All in all, I think this was mostly a rant to get something off my chest that's been bugging me for ages. I imagine some of you might have something to say on the subject, and that's great. Any enlightenment here would be wonderful.
The common conception of "hipster" is someone who goes out of their way to be different in every way to the "mainstream" community, possibly even going so far as to vilify things they previously liked upon reaching the mainstream crowd. That's what people think they are, and what they imagine when linking things to them, so let's go with that.
While this does sound to me like an overstatement, I'll concede it's entirely possible for such a group to exist, and if they do, okay. But what irritates me is the sudden link between anything retro, and hipsterism (according to my spell checker, that one actually is a word). I mean a lot of people probably have retro aspects to their lives, and they wouldn't be classified as hipsters. A good example is in Scott Pilgrim. Yeah, he's pretty much a hipster, and Ramona even more so. He's in an underground band, etc. But it's annoying to me when people (when listing his hipsterish factors) list "oh, and he's a retro gamer!"
Even my friend (obsessed with Scott Pilgrim, and even before that, retro games) makes this mistake. The guy isn't playing them to be different, he's playing them because he obviously prefers them to modern games. Beyond gaming, it's evident in people's sense of fashion. Any piece of retro clothing I've seen get branded an act of hipsterism. This one's particularly close to home, as I collect hats. I do miss the world where I could prance around in a fez or a top hat without being typecast. We have a word for it, "retro", so it's obviously its own thing. I've even seen someone claim that rolling your own cigarettes was hipster. How? It's just an old practice. My dad rolls his own, and it's to my understanding (although I don't smoke) that to do so gives you a fresher and higher quality product.
All in all, I think this was mostly a rant to get something off my chest that's been bugging me for ages. I imagine some of you might have something to say on the subject, and that's great. Any enlightenment here would be wonderful.