The 1980's 'Yuppie' and The 2010's 'Hipster'

'The Hipster is the Reincarnation of the Yuppie - Gone Wrong'

In today's society, the idea of 'social groups' has been narrowed down to a very small few. Once upon a time, there was a vast range of groups - we have the stereotypical high school cliques such as jock/popular, nerd, skater, really just watch fifteen minutes of Disney's 'High School Musical' and you have your main groups there. Interestingly, high school movies still hold this same basic status quo, though in reality young adult/teenage social groups have been narrowed down into one giant class of stupidity - hipsters. It is very easy to spot a hipster nowadays; a hipster will wear skinny jeans that roll up a bit at the bottom, platform trainers, if they're a girl, they will very likely have long hair with a bright dip dye at the ends and a large swooping fringe that covers half their face, not to mention the ridiculous 'nerd' glasses, commonly worn without lenses. These are just a few factors of 'hipsterism' along with the idea of being forever young, an infinity tattoo and a nebula iPhone case. The key slogan for being a hipster is also the perfect summary of what it means to be one and that is "I liked something before it was cool." and they are greatly known for liking whatever no one else has ever heard of. Though, there are many different 'sub-genres' of hipsterism, some of the most popular are the gangster/chavy types and the hippy kind and everything in between.
                        Hipsters are mocked for their desperate need to be cool by being vintage and unique. Similarly, if we were to take a step back a few years to the 80s and the age of the yuppie, something similar could be said for the youth of then. Yuppies, just as hipsters, had a bad reputation in society that was mostly based off of annoyance and potentially envy, though hipsters face little envy. Personally, I would prefer to have yuppies around today rather than hipsters. In contrast to the hipsters, yuppies were mocked for their overtly 'self-absorbed' manners and hunger for social status among peers. They are an example of socially acceptable snobbery. According to author and political commentator Victor David Hanson:

"Yuppism... is not definable entirely by income or class. Rather, it is a late-20th-century cultural phenomenon of self-absorbed young professionals, earning good pay, enjoying the cultural attractions of sophisticated urban life and thought, and generally out of touch with, indeed antithetical to, most of the challenges and concerns of a far less well-off and more parochial Middle America. For the yuppie male a well-paying job in law, finance, academia, or consulting in a cultural hub, hip fashion, cool appearance, studied poise, elite education, proper recreation and fitness, and general proximity to liberal-thinking elites, especially of the more rarefied sort in the arts, are the mark of a real man."

For the hipster and the yuppie, their reputation and status in society share a similar rank. In favour of the yuppie, it could still be said that at least they represented a group of sophisticated, ambitious, successful and well educated young adults - could that really be said for today's young adults? Yuppies are shunned and criticised for their obnoxious and self-absorbed attitudes but by those who have a considerably lower income. So the hatred or dislike for this group was based off of jealously at the end of the day. Hipsters are like a modern day take on the yuppie and a modern day fail. Hipsters try to appear sophisticated with their 19th-20th century prose that half of them probably can't even read. Their Starbucks latte, their type writers, their classical music, their 'philosphical' Tumblr posts quoting songs with space or a young couple with beanie hats and glasses kissing in the background. Hipsters are the reincarnation of yuppies gone wrong.