The Valencia Bay-farer is 826 Valencia's only in-house newspaper written for students by students (ages 8 to 11). Our intrepid reporters learn lessons about the various aspects of journalism, from crafting ledes to interviewing to citing sources, and at the end of each five-week workshop, we release a new issue full of articles about the kinds of things you'd love to read if you were a kid. We hope you enjoy these articles.
The Epidemic of Hipsters
By Lola Morrell, Age 11
I would write a good hook for this article, but that's too mainstream. Hipsters have taken over our city! You can't walk through the Mission or down Valencia Street without seeing them. Whatever they're doing, perhaps drinking fair trade coffee or listening to some new weird band, they are in your neighborhood.
What do you think when I say hipster? There are many stereotypes. Most people think of large "nerd glasses" and skinny jeans. Some people think of vintage things, and some people think of new trendy things. Some people might think of new trendy vintage things, even! "Hipster" has been thrown around a lot, and people have a bunch of different ideas about what it means. In Luke O'Neil's article, "It's Hip To Be Hip Too," he notes that you can be a random guy with a beard and be thought of as a hipster. If you're riding a skateboard, you can be a hipster. Skinny cop: hipster. Female riding a bike: hipster. Pretty much, it can be hard to not seem like a hipster because of all the stereotypes.To me, a hipster is someone who does stuff that isn't cool to be cool, often taking and sharing a picture of how they're doing that. They add to the culture and allow small businesses to gain publicity and let them expand. They give San Francisco another group of people, adding to San Francisco's variety of people. However, the problem is that they're kind of annoying.
Like I said, hipsters let small businesses expand and grow. They let people know about new restaurants and shops. As well as supporting small businesses, they seem to be approving of anti-cruelty for people and animals. I give this an A-plus. They've given an entirely new fashion sense to people. Nerd glasses are looked up to.
Still, despite their culture, hipsters can be obnoxious. Whether it's bragging about how they've been to places you haven't or how they're really against stupid things like being a hipster, they seem to love being better than other people. Also, of course, they will never be open to being called a hipster.
I'm not the only one who thinks that they're obnoxious. Have you been on Valencia Street and seen a sparkly couch? You probably passed by the store Betabrand. It's a clothing store that, according to one of its employees, Victor Lane, tries to appeal to cool, trendy, young, techie people. Apparently, they're also bringing in some hipsters. "It's a demographic that's very interested in Betabrand," Lane explained. He said that to him, "Hipsters are people that look like they paid way too much to look like they bought something cheap."
So, pretty much, hipsters are stereotyped. They can expand culture, but they're also obnoxious sometimes. People mostly don't admit to being hipsters, even if they kind of are. There's something about it that you can't admit to being. Are you a hipster?