All human beings constantly identify themselves based on their categorical memberships, their in-group roles and status and their sense of commitment to what they feel is right or true. It is the situation that contextualizes what and how identity is expressed. (Williams 2011:139)
Identity and authenticity are perhaps the most salient topics in this portfolio; despite not having had an official post dedicated to their discussion, they are implicit in every post. To illustrate examples: I had previously discussed how the acting out of a “deviant” role brings such an identity (i.e. that of a “hipster”) to life – how “the abstract class of outsiders created by the rule can be peopled” (Becker 1963:163) when their “supposed identities had been presented for public consumption” (Cohen 2002:15). I have also explored how a participant of another subculture – that of the the bike messengers – viewed themselves as insiders and the hipsters as poseurs appropriating riding fixed-gear bikes inauthentic-ally, while highlighting that riding fixed-gear bikes has ironically become arguably iconic of the hipster subculture. I also discussed how hipsters resist mainstream gender norms by adopting an androgynous self-image and this translates to dressing within subcultural definitions of femininity/masculinity, which creates insider/outsider distinctions. Such examples are how an insider/outsider dichotomy is being used by hipsters as an “identity-forming strategy” (Williams 2011:131). So far, this portfolio has addressed the over-arching argument of the hipster identity as viewed as A) “authentic”, a “state of mind” or constantly “one step ahead” of culture by committed participants B) a commodity and production of culture industries so much so that it is void of originality by hipster-haters. In other words, this portfolio has largely been discussing the relationship between mainstream culture and that of the hipster subculture (not approaching them as separate entities but more accurately as a dialectic relationship – remembering that the mainstream culture is as much of an abstract/construction as the subculture). This post would focus largely on negotiations of identity and authenticity within the social world of hipsters.
- HIPSTER RUNOFF
Consider this blog: http://www.hipsterrunoff.com, paying particular attention to the “Authenticator” segment: http://www.hipsterrunoff.com/the-authenticator
In a nutshell, this is a blog that “evaluates” hipsters, seemingly taking a more “outsider” approach – but when one explores the blog further, there is a distinct characteristic of the blog simultaneously portraying itself to be more “authentic” in his (pseudonymous Carles’) personal identity. It contains a range of topics: from popular culture to “indie” culture, all under the umbrella of “hipster relevancy”.
Like all hipsters, Carles resists the “hipster” label. He describes his blog as merely an attempt to “remain relevant” … to what? When one plows through the endless jibes at the pretentiousness of mass-consumed “hipster” culture (mocking the style especially with his appropriation of the argot throughout the blog: removing vowels excessively from words, for example), the mocking of popular culture (often through targeting icons of popular culture, such as Taylor Swift), the approving of certain music by certain bands/artists … one realises the term “relevant” is used quite akin to “authentic” in this blog. Carles seems to be positing that he has a more “authentic” perspective of what it means to be “a step ahead of culture”. His in-group comparisons has earned him the status as a significant critique (Carles goes as far to reinstate that the blog has been voted by Time as one of the best blogs of 2010 … Mainstream or not? You decide), akin to gatekeeper status. Though Williams’ (2006, 2011) study on authentic identities constructed on the Internet is focused amongst the straightedge subculture – his discussion of authenticity with relations to its social and personal dimensions is very much relevant when one explores HIPSTER RUNOFF.
- Gatekeeper “Carles” & Status Hierarchies
One will see the immediate connection between the blog and its consumers/”supporters” as that of between the “subculturalist” (the blog) and its reference groups (people who read, approve and occasionally participate in it – but without the similar personal “commitment” as seen in the subcultural forums Williams [2006] studied). In other words, HIPSTER RUNOFF is not explicitly “a blog for hipsters” – which I argue makes it even more interesting to explore with regards to identity and authenticity: a hipster typically does not “wear” the label explicitly. One cannot assume that all participants in the blog are hipsters. This is also why I’ve chosen to discuss Carles’ position vis-à-vis/alongside the rest of the blog. He alone is the “gatekeeper” of the blog. Of course, like with all opinions on social media, this does not assume that all who visit the blog agree Carles due to his position as the blog-owner – some voice out their disagreements with his music ratings, for example. What is interesting are the reactions sometimes incited via these disagreements – especially when these reactions actively create subcultural boundaries that distinguish the “real” insiders from the “poseurs”. However, unlike Williams’ (2003) research, online monikers and usernames undertaken by participants in HIPSTER RUNOFF tend to be temporal or at least not strategically used as signatures files that marked certain individuals as insiders/outsiders. After being called a poseur, one may simply change his/her username, for example and “start over”. Likewise, there is no empirical data on HIPSTER RUNOFF that suggests stigmatization of a certain username.
Hipsters can’t get together and explicitly discuss what it means to be a hipster or how a hipster identity has changed their lives – that would be uncharacteristic of what society understands of a hipster. But they can get together and diss, make fun – like what we see in HIPSTER RUNOFF – forming subcultural boundaries to distinguish between the “real/authentic” from the “mainstream hipster”.
Consider some of the comments that readers post on entries – of course, anyone can access the blog, but if one is so careless as to make a pseudo-hipster/poseur comment, he has to suffer the reaction that “schools” him in the social world of hipsters:
Purity Ring is an indie (some also name them “electropop” but I avoid using arbitrary music terms as much as possible) band that is arguably similar to Crystal Castles. This comment was posted on a rated entry on a single by Crystal Castles – highly “relevant” with a 9/10 rating. The interesting thing about the comment entrylevelcommentbro made is the self-awareness that Purity Ring is not well-received … at least not on this blog: “Fuck me, right?” To which he/she expectantly received the above reaction. There is already a level of understanding – at least to entrylevelcommentbro – with regards to what is “authentic” music as opposed to that of the “poseurs”.
- Personal and Social Dimensions of Authenticity
Carles seems to have a personal understanding of authenticity – when he alone can rate and evaluate what it means to be “relevant”/”authentic”. In the Authenticator segment, Carles approves what he personally thinks is authentic – especially in the realm of music. He even goes as far to rate them over a score of 10. Of course, many online sites perform the same rating (like http://www.skrbblr.com/) – and often with their own opinions – but they operate as an organization, with a board of staff members, that offers what the consumers “would like”. Often, they also have profit motives. HIPSTER RUNOFF differs from these online sites because it is essentially one person expressing his opinion – and they are not consumer-oriented.
Those who comment to agree/disagree/give their own opinions of course are also participating in the process of authenticating the subcultural object in question – and this often translates into subcultural capital (see Thornton 2005) for most – but Carles alone has the power to “have the first and last say” based on him being the sole blogger and distributor of “relavant” information, so to speak. He is not concerned with claiming insider status – even if he is, he does not act on it on his blog. He does not defend his opinions. In this context, Carles’ personal dimension of authenticity is very much akin to what Andes (1998 as seen in Williams 2011) explored as transcendence – though, like Williams (2011:139), I also argue that the “progressive stages” are actually coexisting, except that Carles chooses what to express on his blog (i.e. the situation).
It’s fascinating to consider the self-professed “guideline to hipster music” here: Carles uses a “Relevancy Rating” to grade each piece of music he shares, with his own comments that are often riddled with jargon and satirical attacks at both the hipster subculture and the dominant values of society. Fellow commentators display an agreement with his opinions because they recognize his subcultural capital. Some even go as far as to exalt/flatter Carles (in the context of humour) in their comments. And most importantly, many commentators adopt Carles’ style of mockery – within their own comments as well as towards “poseurs”. I argue that these are examples of participants claiming insider status, but as the nature of the blog is somewhat temporal (i.e. without permanent usernames), it is hard to track just how “serious” a participant is in his ongoing processes in attaining subcultural capital and insider status. One needs to ask if it is important to track such ongoing processes this way on the Internet – especially in temporal subcultures like that of the hipsters (also, they are likely to not claim to be as authentic to the “hipster identity” as they are to being just plainly “authentic”. This often translates to a “special complex”, one of the biggest criticisms we see being reiterated in discourses of hipster hate). I argue that Carles presents himself as “the authentic self” of the blog – who commits to a personal life project and is not controlled by outside influence (Williams 2006:178). The participants, however, though of course simultaneously participating in a similar personal construction of authenticity, are seen more to be undertaking a social dimension of authenticity, where they claim insider status in the blog.
At the end of the day, one is left to question/decide if HIPSTER RUNOFF is the expression of an “authentic” hipster who uses the blog to casually mock at the diffused and commodified brand of hipsters that encapsulates a significant portion of youth today – but simultaneously giving “serious” insight about the pervasiveness of the cultural industry in society today. The blog sugggests Carles as the “real” hipster because he can be in sweatpants (VS. skinny jeans) and he can mock hipster argot, all while having an “authentic” state of mind.
Lastly, one needs to recognize the importance of music to subcultural identity. Like Williams (2006:174) wrote of Cushman (1995:91), “there is a dialectic relationship between music and identity.” I argue that hipsters identify more with their subcultural objects/practices than with the label of a “hipster”. In this sense, the music they consume personally means more to them when they express authenticity than the label “hipster” itself. When one studies the hipster subculture, it is important to study the “insider” perspectives (and thus, their identifications with music, for example), as opposed to approaching the social world through outsider lens that has already defined them as belonging to a particular group called the “hipsters”. After all, the term “hispter” is an outsider label. Most “hipster suspects” tirelessly deny it.
HS4013 Youth Cultures & Subcultures: "Too Mainstream" 