Stop stereotyping! You're not indie!

I've been dawning on this kind of realization that what I'm searching for isn't really getting my "hipster cred" and hanging out with my "indie" friends. Stereotypes aside, what really embodies the concept of "indie" has gone beyond alternative rock music. You could classify it by the hipster/scenester crowd and groups like Flaming Lips and Bloc Party but that's really only breaking the surface; that's really only the people who are either "posers" (god forbid we CALL them that) or the people that can't find or don't want a place in established mainstream groups so they discover these unknown bands and wear out-there clothes which eventually TURNS THEM INTO the stereotype of "hipster" and it's accepted.

In my view trying to be really Indie has nothing to do with that mindset. It's more of a longing to find those unique ideas that don't really get out into the world and interpreting and maybe promoting them yourself, going beyond just hipster music and fashion and encompassing the non-mainstream art, literature, films, opinions on current events, personal stories, and on occasion really out there concepts of fashion and design, all from the present and the past.

The problem with this is many people, like the hypocritical stereotype mafia, pretentiously oppose the stereotypes and reject anyone who LOOKS like they're taking up a specific stereotype. The problem with that is two fold: 1. these people who oppose stereotypes are essentially perpetuating them by acknowledging and opposing their existence 2. there's no way to AVOID these stereotypes anymore because they encompass just about everything sold. We are a society reared on capitalism and the sales managers of the world know it, they market everything based on specific demographics. The hippies have their food and clothing, the preps have their A&F and Hollister, emos and goths have hot topic, hipsters have their thrift stores and EBTM, so now no matter what you buy, wear, or listen to you're being entered into a stereotype whether purposely or accidentally.

In that strive to feel independent from the general views we seek out these strange ideas BECAUSE in every day life there's no escape from stereotypes. We're not TRYING to find our cliche, we're trying to find our own niche. That spot where we can feel comfortably accepted, viewed based on our personality and not our clothing store, and not constantly oppressed by that metaphorical stereotype mafia. Perhaps there is no more independent group, everything in existence has been classified, there is no such thing as miscellaneous and the only way to look unique is to change yourself and adapt day by day and, most importantly, to shake things up every once in awhile, oppose the norm, and express a new side to every thought process.