[pmoriarty]

It's not random.

Someone in stereotypical metalhead attire is unlikely to be called a hipster for it, neither is someone dressed in punk fashion, nor a goth or a jock, etc... well, they won't by a anyone with half a clue as to what the identifying features of these subcultures are.

The negativity comes from people assuming that hipsters think they're cool, but (according to their critics) they're not... it's kind of a rejection of a holier-than-thou attitude, but in fact the critic is engaging in the same snobbery by picking on the hipsters (or whatever subculture they're targeting).

The insult slingers are trying to act as a fashion police, as if there's something special about them that let's them see what's "really cool" that hipsters are blind to. But every sense of fashion is just as arbitrary and ridiculous as any other, and no one's so cool that they can't be looked down on and sneered at by someone else.

[strken]

It's not exactly because they "think they're cool", it's because hipsters reject cheap mass-market consumer goods and embrace expensive one-off artsy goods, while simultaneously adopting poverty aesthetics like wearing old second hand clothes and recycling everything. They're seen, perhaps unfairly, as rich gentrifiers.

[cosmicglee]

Well said. It's the perceived hypocrisy in hipsterdom that is seemingly so eyeroll-worthy, but to roll one's eyes, one needs to pointedly ignore the fact that we're all hypocrites about something.

I blame this on the deification of schadenfreude in popular culture. The advent of reality TV, and the prurient interest in other people's pain exemplified by the afternoon talk shows that predated it, gives us all not only the opportunity, but the permission and encouragement to feel like we're superior to others because of some dehumanizing glimpse into an uncontextualized portion of their private lives.

What a different world we might have if society cultivated a sense of humility, a 'hey, none of us are perfect and we're all out here struggling and I wish us all the best' mentality.

But then, fostering divisions and appealing to our baser, more ignoble instincts is more beneficial, both in terms of profit and also 'divide and conquer' social control.

[ziml77]

I don't see the contradiction between rejecting those mass-market items and wearing second-hand clothes. Everyone has different priorities of where to spend their money.

It could even be a matter of principles. Anything produced at scale, especially clothing, exploits cheap labor. That's something these people may want to avoid. It's also bad for the environment to buy cheaper items that will likely fail quickly, and if old clothes are still usable then why waste resources on new ones?

The holier-than-thou attitude that the other commenter mentioned is still what I believe is the reason for hipster hate. And it's not always unwarranted. If someone becomes a hipster because they want to feel superior, then that certainly does make them annoying.