50’s Hipster

According to the Urban Dictionary:

Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20’s and 30’s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter.

A Chef I work with, knowing how much I love Howard Stern’s celebrity interviews, commented on Howard Sterns hair and said the dreaded “Isn’t he too old for that hair?”  I immediately thought – people are still saying that at our age?  I lived most of my life by that code – you should not wear this at this age, this is not appropriate for this age, people your age do not behave that way, and so on.  Just google …..can I wear leggings at 50?  Is 50 too old for shorter skirts? The list goes on and on.

I am tired of this box that a certain age puts us all in.  I would think that at 50, we have reached the age where we can wear what we want and be exactly who we want to be.  I feel empowered at my age – I have earned it.  No one is going to tell me what I can and cannot do because of my age demographic.  Worrying about what you should or should not be doing robs you of where you are now. It is such a narrow corridor to navigate your life.

Hence the “Hipsters” reference.  I like Hipsters.  If I was in my 20’s I would be a Hipster.  In reading the definition, I have come to realize we fifty year-olds could fit in this category and that some of us do.  Why reserve what I consider an exciting and vibrant list of qualities for only 20-year-olds?

Hipster “Criteria”:

Value Independent Thinking
Don’t we all value independent thinking?  I think that is definitely a criteria of my age group – we have moved from worrying what anybody thinks about us and have learned how to say no and do what we want.  That is about as independent as you can get.

Counter-Culture
Isn’t being a 50’s hipster “counter-culture” for you?  Enough said.

Progressive Politics
A person who is progressive is one who favors political progress or reform. The very young baby boomers (that would be me)   greatly favor political reform – we have lived with the same political system for 50 years and have seen very little change – we are all fed up. What this country has been doing is not working, and remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  Thus the trap we know we are all in and therefore we all feel the need for change.  How much more progressive can you get?

An appreciation of art and indie-rock
I mean, come on, my daughter is a ballerina – how more artsy can you get than that?  Plus, my favorite playmix is Indie Rock. Should Indie music be reserved for the “oh so young”? I think not.  We too can and do enjoy Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins, The Killers, and my personal favorite, The Black Keys.

Creativity, Intelligence and Witty Banter
Consider the poets: 42% of Robert Frost’s poems were written after the age of 50. For Wallace Stevens, it was 49%. For William Carlos Williams, it was 44%.  The sculptor Louis Bourgeious said that “I am a long-distance runner. It takes me years and years and years to produce what I do”—and she did her best work in her 80s.

I think that us “fifty-somethings” need a better reference point than “I’m too old for this” and defining questions such as “Where will you retire?”   Interestingly enough, when you remove the physical attributes of hipsters (beards, beanies, tattoos, piercing, weird glasses), we can slide into many of the mental mindset spaces that Hipsters fill.

Granted, hipsters are hipsters – they fall into that genre because they are all that way.  Fifty-somethings run the gambit but wouldn’t it be awesome if we were all “hip” by emboding the attributes above that will help keep us young and vibrant?  In this day and age, you can google anything, so for lessons on how to reinvigorate yourself, go to wikihow to learn:

“How To Be a Hipster”

One last thing – Hipster’s love vintage clothes, so we must have had fashion right in the 70’s.