Guys. We don't mean to alarm you, but: Americans don't like hipsters. Of course, Americans aren't really sure what hipsters are or, perhaps, no one likes hipsters (not even hipsters), but it appears that most people don't like hipsters, and republicans really don't like hipsters. According to a recent Public Policy Polling study, 16% of Americans have a favorable opinion of hipsters, while 42% have an unfavorable opinion of hipsters, and 43% aren’t sure. (Maybe that last group seems to still be digesting the new Vampire Weekend album. We get it, we are, too.)
Other hard hitting questions the PPP asked pollees (most of which, it should be noted, were white), was whether or not PBR was a good beer — 21% said yes, while almost half of the responders said no. (As an aside: In non-cosmopolitan America, PBR is still quite cheap and still very much along the lines of Schlitz or Bud.)
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Perhaps most mind-boggling was the question wondering whether or not hipsters made any sort of cultural contribution, with an answer actually being provided as: "They just soullessly appropriate cultural tropes from the past for their own ironic amusement." Which is, ironically, a kind of hipster suggestion, right? Is the PPP making a meta-point about their own hipsterism? Is asking about hipsters a hipster thing to do? What is more hip, the hipster, or the one who isn't hip on the hipster?
We might not be qualified to answer these hefty questions, but any time someone feels a smug sense of self-satisfaction, Americans tend to chafe — even if that self-satisfaction comes from some sort of gesture at sustainability or a decision to shop locally and sport mustaches. Fortunately, even though Americans aren't fans of cheap beer and irony, they don't think hipsters should pay for being obnoxious — only 27% think they should be taxed for being "annoying."
Photo: Courtesy of PBR.