Sunday, September 15, 2013

Sam Smathers current event #3 (4th period)


“We Found Where the Hipsters are Coming From”

Article by: Walter Hickey
Response by: Sam Smathers (4th)

            “Young people in their late twenties who fashion themselves as outside the mainstream” is what Hickey considers to be a “hipster”.  This trendy idea to be not trendy has taken hold of the American mind for the last two years. This article describes the areas where hipsters come from, in the United States, by looking at the census. Hickey determines that most hipsters live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He then gathers all the people that had moved to Williamsburg in the last years between the ages of twenty and thirty. He deems this age group to at least have a prominent amount of hipsters and marks where they come from in orange on a U.S. map. He then goes on to name a few cities where a lot of people are coming from such as: “Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Austin” and then concludes by a vague statement in second person mildly defending Williamsburg hipsters by saying that they are not legitimate because they are not from New York.
            This article was informative about peoples moving habits. I think that the fact that people in America move so often can act as a social motor to propel our society into bigger ideas, but this is contradicted by that these Portland “hipsters” didn’t move to Highland Park or the suburbs of Michigan, they moved to another area where they knew they would be accepted. This makes the point of avoiding opposition as an American lifestyle, a much more pressing issue than “hipsters”. Instead of his point being to defend the “hipsters” I think he should have closed up his article with a statement regarding avoiding conflict and what that does to America.

Source:  http://www.businessinsider.com/we-found-where-the-hipsters-are-coming-from-2013-9

4 comments:

  1. I read some where that an average American moves once every 5 years and I think its interesting that a guy would track a certain style of people to see where they came from.

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  2. Perhaps these cities aren't the actual roots of hipster culture but just a trendy place for that demographic to live. Interesting story!

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  3. Interesting that they have pinpointed the most hipster rich areas of America. Very different study. And the idea of being a "hipster" has become so mainstream like the high-waist shorts, cropped band t-shirt and converse or doc martens.

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  4. Funny article Sam! I find that these areas are almost satirical in culture and lifestyle at times. I wonder why these regions collect so many hipsters?

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