Scales

Scales might be seen as “constellations”, as a way of making sense of how youths “temporarily organize themselves” (Massey 1998:124-5 as seen in Williams 2011:146-7)

• Reflecting on Scalar Approaches

This portfolio has been largely showcased more of a micro-scalar approach to the social world of hipsters. The overarching self/identity debate over what it means to be a hipster, especially, is the most salient and exemplary form of a micro-level issue. I argue that it is still very much in contention, especially when so much of the hipster subculture has been diffused and commodified into mass cultural industries today, but claims of authenticity are still very much alive within hipsters.

A meso-level approach that overlaps with micro-scalar research is also more evident in the study of scenes (like Sasquatch! 2012, the music festival in Washington), or symbolic objects/practices (like appropriating fixed-gear bike riding, or dressing collectively in a certain way, getting similar tattoos, etc.). Neither entirely based on subjective experience nor on the political economy, the hipster phenomena can be seen as a “middle ground” (Williams 2011:151) between the two, where individuals come together, interact and form value- and belief-orientations that connect with “larger” social concepts such as gender – and these are constantly in flux with explorations of an “authentic” self/identity. I have also previously discussed communication interlocks and the diffusion/defusion of hipster subculture and argued as to whether the subculture is now solely characterized only by its diffusion/defusion of hipster-dom into mainstream culture (thus “opening the door” for more “subcultural” participation amongst potential youth) – or, more specifically, consumption.

• Macro-scalar + Locality

On a more macro-level analysis, we could perhaps see the connection between a “modern”-day sense of displacement from weak social cohesion in urban spaces which encourages subcultural adaptation to the environment (Williams 2011:154). Hipsters are characterized by, first and foremost, their efforts to reject the mainstream (however contentious that may be). This is true for most subcultures who believe they are authentic, but the hipsters differ from them mainly in their refusal of the outsider label of a “hipster”. To reject being a hipster is arguably a symbolic practice of being a hipster. One needs to look at the larger social environment that have encouraged hipsters to 1) identify (yet not overtly) with a supposedly non-conformist attitude in the 21st century 2) be so characteristic of youth today. I daresay it is so much easier to spot a hipster than a metalhead in Singapore. Arguably the political and social climate of Singapore makes it easier for hipsters as opposed to metalheads precisely because it is “safer” to be a hipster than a metalhead – especially when one talks about moral panics. I have already discussed how society is more likely to react (i.e. hipster hate) via labeling hipsters as “deviants” of mainstream values and norms (not in an “authentic” sense as an insider hipster would prefer, but more of viewing them as pretentious and ironically mainstream) than on a more macro-level of moral panic. This is largely to do with the nature of the hipster subculture as being characterized by its temporality and consumption – what “harm” can that do? If we argue that hipsterism is a “state of mind” and there is an element of “authenticity” about being it, then it would be fair to say that there is a hipster in every subculture, in every member of the youth who seeks to have an authentic sense of self that is critical of the larger society, because of the arguable phenomena of marco-level processes creating seedbeds for “subcultural”, non-normative thought.

• Outsider & Insider Perspectives of the Hipster ▲

There are many views as to how the triangle has come about to be so iconic of the hipster subculture. To recognize these views, one must first recognize that the triangle as a symbol has been used extensively in society and music bands and the possibility of hipsters as appropriating these symbols into their social world is more likely as opposed to the “original” hipster creating the symbol and it trickling down to what we see being “worn” (on clothes, as tattoos, as jewelry, etc.) today by, well, arguably hipsters and non-hipsters alike. I argue this because there is virtually no agreement (within insiders or outsiders) as to what a hipster triangle “means”/stands for.  I even pulled people off the street/interviewed friends of friends with triangle tattoos – often on the back of their necks or wrists – to ask about the significance of the tattoo – but I will get to that later. Here are some outsider explanations regarding what the “hipster triangle” means with references to macro-level issues:

The Homomonument

1. Appropriating the symbolism of inverting the meanings of the “pink triangle” used to distinct the homosexuals held in Nazi concentration camps. Once intended as a badge of shame and categorization by the Nazis, it has now been inverted as a popular sign of “gay pride” and a symbol of the gay rights movement internationally. In Amsterdam, for example, the Homomonument is a memorial built in 1987 that commemorates all who were subjected to persecution by the Nazis because of their homosexuality. It consists of three pink granite triangles. The hipsters are believed to have appropriated this “inversion” of meaning; not specifically related to homosexuality or the gay rights movement, but more symbolically as a sign of inverting what is believed as “inappropriate” by society and then subsequently “using it to your advantage”. In this sense, it can be understood a symbol of resistance – bricolage. This also closely connects with the hipsterification of “irony”. One needs to question if the hipsters truly have both form and function when we use homology to study the bricoleur’s “fit” with his “activities, self-images and focal concerns” (Clarke 1976b:186). Do all hipsters who “wear” triangles even know of the Homomonument? Of course, it is also worthwhile to consider the possibility of this link between a macro-level issue and appropriation to a sense of externalized self/identity being inaccurate – after all, it is an outsider’s explanation. I will address this more later on
2. The symbol for social change – because the triangle is the mathematical symbol for “change”, or delta

I asked my interview subjects two questions:

What does your (triangle) tattoo mean to you? / What made you get it?

Do you consider yourself a “hipster”?

Obviously the people I pulled off the street/interviewed via snowballing method (i.e. I was introduced to them by friends who all chimed along the lines of “oh, he/she is damn hipster … You should interview him/her”) are not entirely representative of the “hipster” social world – keeping in mind that they may not (are very likely to not) identify themselves as hipsters. I have summarized most of the answers:

Regarding the first question,

1. some told me very vague and ambiguous answers – such as they think it is “cool”, or “simple”
2. some said it represented very specific, personal meanings such as a trinity of beliefs and values: one told me it means “beauty, truth and love”, a combination of values which she self-orients to; another told me it means “body, mind, spirit”. In any case – a “trinity” of beliefs and values

I occasionally probed further and asked what made them get such a tattoo. The objective is to check if their tattoos were along the same time period of the hipsterification of mass culture industry, which often hinted at a source of “inspiration” coming from a piece of hipster-fied mass culture. This connection will at least illustrate the pervasiveness and influence of the diffusion of hipster subculture into youth culture. Out of the few I interviewed, all had their tattoos done relatively recently, the earliest being in late-2010. I would then proceed to asking if they considered themselves as hipsters, to which I got the (expected) and somewhat similar responses:

1. most said “it depends on the definition” and proceeded (without me giving a definition) onto to denying the label, saying their tattoo is “not really a hipster thing”/”I just like it”
2. one of them out-rightly admitted to his tattoo being “so damn hipster” but he “wouldn’t consider himself one” because he listens to “all kinds of music”. He had previously said his tattoo meant “past, present, future” and his response to people labeling him as a hipster is: “whatever, it doesn’t really affect me … I’m OK with it”

In summary, the individuals I interviewed showed more of a micro-level and personal connection with their tattoos (as opposed to more overt forms of resistance in the form of tattoos such as with straightedge members), which contrasted with outsider definitions that drew on macro-level explanations for such subcultural symbols and practices. I argue that the “hipster triangle” may not be synonymous with the hipster label when it comes down to on-the-ground, life-experience of these individuals in question but it is evidently what mainstream society uses to “distinguish” hipsters. The interesting thing to note is some of these individuals whom I got to interview via the snowballing method have already been labeled as hipsters by their friends – and this is likely to have more to do with than just a triangle tattoo.