Cool

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whoops, I meant I had no idea why he thought that was acceptable

I guess I'm sort of "cool." I don't really know. I used to be more outgoing, now not so much, as now I realized I'm sort of weird or annoy people by trying to talk to them. So now I try to put up the more "aloof" act. I dress in name brand clothes, and am reasonably in shape and have reasonably good hygiene, so I can "look" pretty "cool" on first glances. I think my problem is more that I'm confusing, once people get to know me they'll realize I listen to Japanese and Russian music, build Gundam models, all sorta super nerdy things. So "nerds" scoff me for being "cool" and then "cool" people scoff at me for being a nerd after talking to me for more than a couple minutes. I can't really win. That said, name brand clothes are great, they're quite cheap at thrift stores and fit you quite well compared to say, Hanes 3 pack shirts.

As for hipsters, never really had luck in "alternative" social circles either really. Too damned weird for them, too. That said, it's hard to really like hipsters. Like you don't know which ones are genuine in what they like or dislike, and as far as them being friends with you, I think it carries over to that. That, and hipsters are mostly into the party/hookup lifestyle, which I want no part in. I got invited to a party by my hipstery neighbors, and I declined it, and he took it as a personal insult and after that didn't want much to do with me.

The other thing, too, there seems to be really distinct "nerd" social circles nowadays. In high school, I guess that was the closest to a social group I got. After high school, they really evolved to the point I wanted no part in them. My interests changed, and the "nerd" groups got to be less about things I liked (anime) and more about like, tabletop RPGs and stuff.

That all said, I think being "cool" is less to do with any specific traits you have, and more about climbing to the top ranks of whatever social group you decide to ally yourself with. IE, coolest hipster will be an enemy to the coolest "prep" or "jock" or whatever. "Cool" doesn't seem to exist much on it's own.

When people say f@ggot, the word isn't necessarily aimed at homosexuals. If I'm in my car and some jerk in a BMW enters the roundabout in 60 mph without giving a damn about yield or the safety of other people, if someone then calls him a f@ggot, they're not implying that he get's turned on by boys, but that he is that naughty word that just happened to be the first word that leaped out of their mouth.

I didn't think he meant that they were men who enjoyed the company of other men. I don't care whether he thinks some people are gay.
I care that he chose to use a really horrible slur.
I would be upset if he called them ret*d too, even if he didn't actually mean they had a disability. Words like that in these contexts hurt people, and they do that without providing any other communicative value.
The implication is that being a f*g is bad so calling people a f*g is a way to show they are bad or make them feel bad.

"Fag" has been a deroatory term for centuries. It gradually became an offensive term for homosexuals in the post-war years.

ding ding ding.

Considering we don't live in a time it meant something different, and I'm as certain as it's possible for anyone to be that he wasn't using it in any sense but the modern one, the history of the word is interesting but irrelevant.
Anyway, I didn't mean to create such a huge derail by questioning someones slur usage. A little surprised by objections to questioning the use of that particular word but they happened and that's that. I think it was wrong to use, but I'm not going to discuss it here further because I've already repeatedly stated my objection and continued discussion is not relevant to the thread (unless calling people f****ts is some kinda hipster thing now).

Those guys in the pics look like they're from a homosexual skit on SNL or something though.

^^ This.
The word "ret*d" has a dry, technical use but it also has an offensive use to indicate sub-human, second-class, crap, unworthy of basic respect - etc etc.
It's the same situation with "fag", "gay", "n****r" and many more, all being used as short-cuts to denigrating others and it would be nice to think that here on WP - of all places - people would be a little more sensitive and aware of how easily words can be used as weapons.

So, it's not Ok and breaks this rule:

I don't dislike homosexuals at all, unlike hipsters. I don't really hate them, I just think out of all the "non-conformist" cultures that have emerged, such as punks, goths, etc they are the most conformist, ironically. I also hate the fact that if I ever have the opinion that "Well this band or tv show was cool before it got popular or before the singer did this" that makes me a hipster. No. Also unlike goths and punks I can't think of any really cool music to come from them, well..I like Arcade Fire so I guess that counts.

Every hipster I've talked to has always been nothing but "style" and zero substance. Same favorite books, "ironically" like "nerdy" things but don't really like them, taste in music revolves around either liking the most unknown, obscure bands OR saying you like Lady Gaga and Brittany Spears for more irony. Sometimes I think hipsters I know are really just people with bad taste who wanted to fit into another clique so they just say "oh I'm into this ironically!". Again, I'm not generalizing so much as I am talking about actual hipsters I've met. I don't hate the hipster dress style at all and I think its really cool when someone picks up awesome looking vintage clothes from a thrift store, but to me that's being cool and retro. The best looking hipsters, to me, resemble how people dressed in the 60s and 70s. But again, that's just being artsy and eccentric to me, I've known people, like my sister, who have always done that kind of stuff since highschool back before it was considered "hipster".

I know it seems like I'm being hypocritical, maybe even acting like a hipster in lambasting them for not being "cool" but I largely feel this way because, again, every hipster I've met or talked cares more about the hipster label and living it for social acceptance than actually being different and doing what you like. The hipsters I've met have been bigger tools than the so called "cool" people.


Also completely disagree that people with AS are more inclined toward being hipsters. I'd assume people with AS care less about cliques and just like what they like. Hipsterdom is not this big intellectual or artsy circle, its people emulating a certain style and behavior, like what you put in the OP. You still can't dress certain ways, like certain things or behave certain ways or you will get mocked ruthlessly by hipsters. The thing about being asexual is wrong too. Hipster guys have sex a lot with hipster girls, they just pick to act aloof,uncaring or like you said "asexual".

Finally, don't assume hipsters are highly liberal and humanitarian because they frequently wear the Keffiyeh. I can assure you 99% of them do not give a s**t about Palestine or even know its origin, it just "looks" hip.

So, in conclusion, don't assume that because you're an aspie, smarter and feel like you're more of an individual who isn't understood that you will be accepted as a hipster. It is a very exclusive club and its not one worth joining. Just be yourself, dislike mainstream stuff because a good chunk of it is garbage and try not to give a s**t what others think, that's not being a hipster, that's being you're own person.

I guess I'm closer to cool

JUST NOT CLOSE ENOUGH

I wonder since when was hipsterdom is linked to homosexuality?? HMMM

Fail to see a link. Here. Though I see a few each time I stroll the Castro District. It doesn't make them gay though. Or at least I don't know that they are.

Anyways, it's not nice to call hipsters gay.

There's no connection, I was just being topical since people have been disgusting homosexuality more since the one reply on the first page. Gay as a pejorative is simply not nice period and I don't like the use of the word "fag" period, I hate how its the new "in" thing now on the internet to say you're an artfag, musicfag, thisfag or thatfag. It sounds stupid.



You're like most people and don't fit into a pigeon holed category. Congrats on not being completely boring.

There is a sheer difference between charisma and "cool". Cool means you embody "mainstream" ideals. Charisma is the ability to attract, captivate, and gain the attention of others. Yes, cool people can have charisma, but not all do. But an "uncool" person can have charisma and absorb those around him, figuritively. A charismatic person can redefine what is cool.

The hypothesis put forth to me is that, since people with Asperger's syndrome are nonconformist by virtue of their neurodevelopment, they will never be "cool" as it is normally thought, but since hipsters esteem eccentricities, they'll have an easier time establishing "street cred" with hipsters by losing weight and throwing on a pair of skinny jeans and mocking people's taste in music. Pretty easy, and if you screw up some social cues, you can say you were being nonconformant while being cool requires a damned near perfect enactment of social interaction.