Originally, the term "hipster" referred to "a figure of the black subculture of the late 1940s" (Grief 7), and passed to "The White Negro" (Grief 7) who listens to Jazz in the 1950s. This term has gone through many phases and transitions as time has passed. Dick Hebdige states, “Subcultures represent 'noise' (as opposed to sound): interference in the orderly sequence that leads from real events and phenomena to their representation in the media” (Hebdige 90). In the past, hipsters were localized and part of a subculture; however, now, my perception of hipsters has transformed into a worldwide “imagined community” with many subcultures located within it. Not only has the structure of their community changed, but also the characteristics of hipsters have improved because, as Gertrude Stein says, “Every generation has something different to look up to.” (Stein). As with any subculture, there are signs and signifiers that distinguish a subculture, these signs and signifiers correspond respectively to the style and mentality of that subculture. Mainstream culture considers “hipsterism” more of a style than a mindset when asked to define a hipster, while people I perceive as hipsters think of “hipsterism” as one hipster put it, “more of an attitude than a style. ”A sign of being a hipster can be an interest in art and certain musical genres they listen to; these genres include folk, indie rock, and jazz. Normative people don't so quickly judge someone as a hipster when they find out that someone listens to non-normative music or is interested in art. Hipsters are associated with having a degree in some type of artistic field. When visiting the so-called hipster cafes, the music that was played was more... middle of paper... hipster sider actually hipster who denies or is there some completely separate entity that the mainstream world has yet to see who they really are hipsters? Works Cited Anderson, Benedict. "Chapter 3." Imagined communities. New York: Verso, 1991. 37-46. Print.Geertz, Clifford. Interpretations of cultures: selected essays. New York, NY: Basic, 1973. Print.Grief, Mark, Kathleen Ross, and Dayna Tortorici, eds. What was the hipster? A sociological investigation. Comp Avner Davis. Brooklyn, New York: N+1 Foundation, 2010. Print.Hebdige, Dick. Subculture, the meaning of style. London: Methuen, 1979. Print.Said, Edward W. Orientalism. London: Penguin, 1978. Print. Sardar, Ziauddin and Loon Borin Van. Presentation of cultural studies. London: Icon, 1997. Print. Stein, Gertrude. “Composition as Explanation (1925).” Poetry Foundation. Np, 15 February 2010. Web.