Aspies and Hipsters

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My parents say I am not a hipster, but the thing is I don't like the label and I think the label is good fit for me, I think that I am a hipster.

Yes, your assessment of hipsters is 100% WRONG. Hipsters do care about fashion and hygiene! They define their identity based on their choices of consumption and deliberately reject anything that their peers consider mainstream because mainstream=Way Uncool. Hipster culture is based entirely around something called.........*drum roll*..........Pretense! Pretense is the act of pretending to be something you're not.

Subcultures like this would be extremely unaccepting of aspies because we aspies don't pick up on social cues which are essential to being able to walk the walk and talk the talk. Hipsters a the beatniks of the 21st century. And people who partake in alternative subcultures like this have their own distinctive style of dress that sets them apart from the mainstream while identifies them as part of a scene. Hipsters do not have "trouble" with romantic relationships, many of them simply reject monogamy and commitment because they they think that promiscuity equates to sexual liberation(thanks to shows like "sex and the city").

Hipsters are also very social and can be seen hanging out with their friends at dive bars, parks, and cafe's. Aspies can come across as arrogant, whereas most hipsters are snobby as hell. The reason being that they are
social climbers trying to make friends and get laid. Aspies and hipsters couldn't be more different. Though I'd be very interested to find out if any aspie hipsters actually do exist.


These people are not social rejects nor people who are mentally abnormal and have been excluded by the world, they are the children of fairly affluent, educated, urban parents who want to climb the social ladder and place themselves above mainstream society(along with making friends and getting laid).

Also as I see it, aspies are not flocking to certain neighborhoods and disrupting the lives of the citizens who lived there longer. Aspies will tend not to call an electrician when their light bulbs need replaced. And really; how many aspies do you see riding around on a unicycle everywhere?

As someone who's been called both an aspie and a hipster, I'd have to say that hipsters seem more accepting of aspies than most social groups, which may contribute to the similarities. Perhaps hipsters represent an evolutionary branching of people who are more willing to accept aspie traits?

AspieRogue, I have AS and am not a social reject, mentally abnormal nor have I been excluded by the world. I hope you didn't meant that you think all aspies fall into those catagories.

What the hell are Hipsters? Obviously we're not talking about trousers that come below the waist here.

I have found in no uncertain terms that hipsters see me as particularly different to themselves, compared to what other people do. Hipsters particularly show a disdain towards me, that other people don't do.

I didn't. But as other people have pointed out, your comparison of aspies to hipsters in the OPost couldn't possibly be more inaccurate and clueless. Hipsters are different by CHOICE and not by chance. And as someone who has run into quite a few of them, I can say with complete certainty that they are not socially inept(which is the defining feature of asperger syndrome).

Perhaps your asperger syndrome isn't nearly as severe(or at least as obvious to those who see you IRL even without having actually talked to you)as mine is.

for me, in England, I find hipsters extremely annoying. They used to be called "indie kids" over here. Basically they're just kids that follow a trend because it's "in" and "cool". I know quite a lot of hipsters. They're alright people besides when they're being false and trying to live up to their image. From what I know and have experienced about hipsters they have nothing in common with aspies for me. (unless there's some aspie hipsters knocking around!). Generally they're social people constantly trying to be cool and different.

Where as I find aspies don't have to try to be cool and or different

Mine is a mild case, or at least seems to be now. I had lots of problems when I was younger, but back then when I didn't know I had it (nobody knew about it really, I don't think) I thought that I was like everybody else and that I just wasn't trying hard enough. I made myself do things and keep doing things until I could do them with a lot of effort. Eventually it became easier and almost natural, although I still make a lot of social mistakes. I've found that you can get by with a lot if you act confident and like you feel that you are perfectly ok doing whatever it is that you are doing, even if you aren't at all confident.

I was simply comparing two groups of people who many times appear nerdy and socially different in similar ways. While Aspies can be part of any subculture, it just seemed that the Hipster subculture would be a much easier fit for lots of people with AS.

It seems that my OP and the attempt at light humor upset you. Why is that? Do you dislike hipsters that much?

This is pretty true in all aspects about them and I do like certain aspects of hipster style. Every self-proclaimed hipster I've seen on the internet is an exact cookie cutter replica of another one of his or her brethren. "Likes" Haruki Murakami on facebook? Check. All favorite bands are obscure and so indie you have never seen or heard of them before? Check. Heroes listed include Optimus Prime, Starscream, Jem , Charizard?

The best thing you can do to annoy a hipster is to check his or her list of "wacky" interests and initiate conversation with them about the topic. Actually that's incredibly frustrating, don't. Hipsters bother me because on the outside they appear to be people who just want to be themselves, embrace it, dress tacky or wear s**t like they like but let me ask you this..if I go out in public wearing a bright yellow shirt emblazoned with the Russian Knights logo (acrobatic jet team), wear some tight jeans, do my hair however I want and listen to the music I like..does that make me a hipster? Hell no. It makes me an uncool dweeb, just ask any hipster. Its about being stylishly uncool so that's its chic. Not everyone can be a hipster.

Being a hipster is about being part of the hipster scene (assuming you are accepted), wherever you live (assuming it has one), being into "the culture" (I'm sure there is one, I just don't care to learn about it) and assimilating yourself further to the hivemind. You have to really look a certain way too, I've noticed. Its really the same as every other social clique but it probably values individuality less since if you're a goth you can at least be one because you like the color black and enjoy Bauhaus or The Cure. I've never seen hipsters who seemed happy beyond just being as snide, condescending and "obscure" on all fronts as possible. I really don't think Hipsters like anything period. Except for themselves.


I'm not holding a grudge or anything because one insulted how I looked once, not at all.


Because (a large portion of them) are a**holes.

This says so much in such a short time
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/2dK1uFwmtqk[/youtube]

I may have provided this link before, but this is hilarious:

Bacon-loving Hipsters Can Kiss My Vegan Ass (<---- this is a clickable link)

The irony here is that these people, even the mastermind behind it all, are hipsters themselves.

First off, there are many different types of hipster (bike-o, art star, indie/garage rocker, ironic, poor, rich, heroin chic, designer clothes, PBR drinker, $18 cosmo drinker, etc.). Despite the many different types of hipsters, they all have three things in common:

1. What they do, how they dress, is done for one reason only: they think it makes them cool.
2. They aim to be different than "normal" society, thus making them hip to some sort of cool that boring people (i.e., normal) cannot understand. Hence, hipsters.
3. Everything they do is on purpose. The purpose is to be different, and in some cases to make a statement, but the purpose is also to be cool.

So the bottom line is that a hipster does what he or she does because they believe they are being cool. Aspies do what we do because we simply cannot not do them. We do not try to be eccentric or different. Our eccentricities do not even come natural to us as that implies some amount of effort was put into it. He is a natural actor. We are blind to many of our eccentrics and even when self-aware, it takes a conscious effort to be "normal". And that effort takes energy. Only a hipster would be so self-conscious that they would devote the energy required to be "someone" else.

Aspies appear to be aloof, but that is something born out of a complete incompetence for social cues. Hipsters are jerky because they think they are above you. I can see the confusion, here, though.

It's exhausting enough going through the day-to-day with aspergers as it is. No need to complicate things more.

But, thanks to the acceptance of nerd/geek culture--and many aspies are nerds/geeks--being an aspie has somehow become "cool" (all of the aspie pride doesn't help matters, either). I like being an aspie. I like my eccentrics. It is who I am and I do not know any other way to be. I like that I bring a different perspective to the conversation, and I like that my "antics" can be seen as fun, but believe me, these are also a bain. I enjoy my little world because it is all that I know, because I have no other choice. I simply have to. Sometimes, though, I wish I was normal. It would make life a hell of a lot easier. There is nothing hip or cool about being an aspie. And yes, I do have aspie pride! We [i]are[/i] awesome.

I have known a few hipsters in my life. There are many similarities and I suspect that some hipsters truly are undiagnosed (officially) aspies. The general public may not be able to tell the difference, but an aspie can spot a non-aspie a mile away. And, it is not like all aspies dress "comfortably", anyways.

Aspies are into what they are into for reasons that they may not be aware of. Between the ages of 12 and 17, I collected the color Sunday comic from the newspaper. And I don't know why. In retrospect I think it was because of the Peanuts comic strip, but honestly it was just something I started to do. I just thought [i]why not[/i]? Everything a hipster does they do because they think it makes them cool, because it is acceptable to their other hipster friends.

Once again, hipsters dress in a manner that they think makes them cool and/or fashion forward. It is down on purpose, thought went into it. An aspie will wear what an aspie will wear because the aspie cannot see the "whole picture" of what their outfit looks like. Even if they look in a mirror, they will only focus one individual item at a time and are blind to the whole image. I used to wear a shirt that I really liked. It had a nice pattern, but it was 2XL and at the time I was a size Large in shirts. I knew that it was big, but I didn't [i]know how big. It took me a few years before I finally realized I looked like a clown in that shirt.

The flip side is that I can see what works and what does not work on other people, and because of my tendency to be blunt, I have, at times, declared [i]What the heck are you wearing[/i]! Again, another similarity that society might use to confuse the aspie and the hipster. Of course, the difference being that the aspie does it because they do not understand not to say it. The hipster says it because they think they are cooler than you.

The hipsters that are not concerned with hygiene think their scruffy beards and oily unkempt hair give them a salty or crusty appearance. As if they were a lumberjack or seaman. As with the theme here, it is intentional. Aspies tend to have a preoccupation with something else, and will forget to brush their teeth, bathe, wash clothes, etc.

Yeah, this is true.

By the way, you spell hygiene wrong, and if you are going to use ie, it is i.e.

Hipsters are arrogant because they think they are above you. Aspies seem arrogant because we genuinely want to connect with other people yet have difficulties with things we are not familiar with (like small talk). It is easier for us to stick with that which we are familiar, and our bluntness and lack of understanding social "norms" gives us the appearance of being arrogant and/or rude. Inside, though, those are not our intentions.

Aspies want to be left alone for many reasons: it is easier to deal with ourselves; we know people think we are weird; we like to contemplate and plan and see other people as an interruption to our thoughts; the stimulus of another person can be overwhelming; and a few others. A hipster only wants "society" to leave them alone. They definitely want to be a part of their own group, though.

I have trouble ending a relationship because I have trouble letting go. It is believed that all aspies have some level of depression, and our inability to properly process and deal with our emotions causes that depression to feel like an oppressive weight. It is simply a scary feeling. My guess would be that hipsters end relationships this way because they want to seem disinterested and carefree. Plus they probably get a few scene points for it, too.

I never thought of this, but in retrospect, I do avoid physical confrontations at all costs.

I never thought of this one, either, but it seems to be true for me as well, although I will be adventurous and try something new if given the opportunity.

Here is what I don't get about hipsters. It seems like hipsters are always trying to do something that makes them different and unique. They are trying to not be cool, right? But the reality of the situation with hipsters is that these people are actually trying everything they can with the point of being cool in mind!(They just don't want to admit it) In otherwords: Not being cool is cool. Which makes it not cool. Hipsters need to shave and go away.

I like some of the hipster clothing, it doesn't look as pretentious as other styles, which seem to be more baroque, glittery, and so on. As it is now, it looks lik something I could wear.

I read up to page 2 and what occured to me especially is that according to some, hipsters aren't genuine in their interests when it comes to for example literature or music. I've been very into alternative music genres (mainly classical too), literature, postmodern art etc. However, when I visit a museum or a concert, I mainly see old people and somehow it always gives me the feeling that I'm watching people playing the same act where they all pretend the same but none of them are very sincere, and only some of them know that the others are just the same.

I'll avoid the hipster look a bit, because I don't want people to think I belong to a certain subculture I don't have much to do with. However, I do think it's good if there ARE people my age who genuinely feel drawn to, let's say, literature. I do have some hope left.