Culture is not stagnant; rather,
it is constantly changing. Today, we refer to culture as a sort of style. Humans are concerned with being in style. Culture changes through the
processes of discovery, invention, and diffusion. A video by Guy Branum,
appropriately titled, “The Evolution of the Hipster”, includes the backstory of
the term, ‘hipster’, and goes on to detail the evolution of the hipster
culture. He notes that the term hipster first came about in the 1940’s during a
time when a select few chose to reject mainstream culture. It then moved on to
the 1960’s; this time, hippies were classified as, “anti-capitalists with a
love of progressive politics”. In the 1970’s, hipsters gravitated towards anti
authoritarian punk. Hipsters of the 1980’s fostered the growth in the
popularity of hip-hop. Then, in the 1990’s hipsters were infatuated with the
irony of 90’s grunge. Although hipsters were ahead of their time, they were all
interested in one thing: counter culture.
Today’s hipsters are not only focused
on indie music, but are also focused on increasing environmental awareness. A
couple of years ago, most people would not hesitate to throw plastic bottles in
the trash or idle their car in a parking lot for extended periods of time. Now,
in up and coming cities, it is considered a sin to do either one of the fore
mentioned. Hipsters in Vancouver, Canada, were so concerned with the
environment, that a law was passed, which allowed for two lanes to be permanently
closed off for bikers and walkers on one of the busiest bridges in Vancouver. This law changed the infrastructure of the city, and allowed for a network to be completed so more bikers could access the entire city with out endangering themselves.
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| Photo of the Burrard Bridge (Vancouver, BC, Canada) |
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