The Hipster Headdress Shtick Isn't New, But It's Gone Mainstream, and Is Just as Offensive
As I reported last year ("An Incomplete History of Hipster Headdresses"), I was pretty stunned by the abundance of headdresses, warpaint, and makeshift totem poles at Sasquatch! 2010. I spoke to a couple of tribal members, and they were as excited about the trend as you might expect them to be.
This year, things went mainstream. It wasn't just the hipsters and MGMT fans who hit the costume shop before the festival. Every time you turned around, the person next to you was sporting faux-warpaint or had a single Technicolor feather stuck in their hair. The above-pictured individual even joked to me that he was a member of a tribe.
Can anyone tell me why this is a good idea? Can anyone provide a reasonable explanation as to why it is not disrespectful? Do you think it'd be cool to wear a burka? A turban?
The liberal, indie set that Sasquatch! draws heavily from are just the kind of people who would abhor the idea of Americans offending Muslims--something they see the government having done in Iraq and Afghanistan. Where's the sensitivity for Native Americans?
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