TheAgitator.com
Bobo v. Hipster
Monday, August 18th, 2003I went to dinner at a friend’s house last night. In discussing a mutual acquaintance who had been somewhat of a Phishy geek-chic hipster in high school (insomuch as anyone is a hipster in high school), I was introduced to the word “Bobo,” which I had never come across before. So I looked it up. From an Amazon list called “So You’d Like to Become a Bobo:”
What is a Bobo? Author David Brooks defines them as Bourgeois Bohemians (a.k.a Bobos) in his book ‘Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There’. The first order of business in understanding the Bobo (and in becoming one if you so desire) is to read Brooks’ book and related literature and immerse yourself in the lifestyle and politics of the Bobo. Become one with the Bobo: Drive around town by yourself in your Lexus SUV. Become frustrated when Trader Joe’s is out of wheat-free, organic fiber flakes. Take your Segway Human Transporter to work. Whip yourself up a faux Jamba Juice smoothie in your Bosch MUM 7400UC 700-Watt Stand Mixer Kitchen Machine. Stroll around REI until you feel at home.
I consider myself a fairly culturally literate person, in terms of current popular culture at the very least. How did the presence of the Bourgeois Bohemians totally escape me? Is it as simple as my having been in Ohio for four years? Is there a discernable difference between a Bobo and a hipster? Is Bobo the same as credit-card-hippie? I’m afraid I’ve been using hipster when I should have been using Bobo. Very embarrassing, I assure you.
It’s largely an age and income thing. A Bobo is either a boomer or early-wave Xer, and likely to be an upper middle-class professional. Hipsters shop at thrift stores; Bobos shop at Anthropologie. Le Tigre at Galapagos in Brooklyn is Hipster; drinks at the Blue Note is Bobo. Zines are hipster; Utne Reader is Bobo. Chunky nerd-frames are Hipster; expensive thin wire-frames are Bobo. You can probably fill in the blanks from there.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the description sounds an awful lot like a Yuppie. Are we no longer using that?
No, a Bobo is a yuppie with hippie leanings, as evidenced by the ‘wheat free-organic flakes’ and such. Think of what you’d imagine a techie living in Seattle to be like, and that’s probably pretty close to Bobo.
A hipster is that kid who liked obscure brit-pop music in High school, and was probably in drama as well. Think geek-chic or something to that effect.. They’re the poeple who dress in clothes that look like they’re from thrift stores, but also sort of look like they were more expensive than any of your clothes that you didn’t buy at a thrift store.
Very informative and illustrative, Mr. Sanchez. The Anthropologie versus thrift store shopping really hits the nail on the head, so far as I’ve been able to gather in my half-assed research today.
Notice while Bobos are are relatively cohesive subgrouping, hipsters come in different shapes and colors. There are mods, krust, electrocrash, goths, ravers, skaters and such. Funny thing is, at most high schools all types of them hang out together like a Superfriends-style team of “freaks.” Then they go to art school and segregate.
i have to say here that i’ve always used the term bobo as a derogatory way of saying that something is generic or unstylish, as in “dude, those shoes you are wearing are bobo as hell, where’d you get them, payless?”. Of course that was 15 years ago.
ACK! Goths are a form of Hipster? Are only Jocks and Geeks (Nerds) the only group that is not Hipster?
No, I think lumping goths in with hipsters is too broad a use of the term. I think of the term in the narrower sense that captures folks likely to be seen wandering around Williamsburg listening to bands with names of the form “The Xes.” (The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Vines, The Libertines, et multae cetera.)
You could make the case a bobo is a yuppie that has decided use their (bourgeois) wealth to adopt bohemian lifestyle traits. Witness the emphasis on food, brooks notes that the kitchen, with its wildly excessive stainless steel, industrial quality appliances is always the center of the bobo home. In short, a bobo is a yuppie who realized that an REI fleece beats a Members Only jacket on both the style and comfort fronts.
Actually Julian, the true hipsters abandoned those bands the second they got any publicity/popularity.. A love of the obscure is definitely a hipster trait.
`The question is,’ said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
`The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master - - that’s all.’
Lewis Carroll–Through the Looking Glass
I’d thought the latter two were–just barely–sufficiently underexposed to be fair game for another few months, but my distance from NYC may have dulled my sensitivity to what’s hep.
New definition.
Boobster - One who ponders excessively
about whether someone is a bobo or
a hipster because they are neither,
but want to be.
Ohio will do that to you, Brooke. We’re still trying to culturally resuscitate my brother from the four years he spent in Dayton back in the early 90s.
Chris:
I’m with you on the “bobo” usage. It has always been used as a derogatory term. Should I be waiting for the hijacking of “schwag” too?
All that said and done, Brooke, the Bobos in Paradise books is hilarious, timely, interesting and definitely worth your time.
Sasha (who was a salesclerk at Williams-Sonoma in her early twenties and thus has been exposed to more bobos than is healthy)
Hey - what if you thrift like crazy, but get off on the occasional splurge at Anthropologie? Anyway, hipsters spend more on their hair…