A panel knowledgeable of “hipster culture” agreed Thursday in front of an audience at the University of Wisconsin the term escapes rigid definitions and is not necessarily comprised of a unified group of people.

Many had distinct ideas about the tenets of the culture, although not one of the five panelists was a self-proclaimed hipster.

Panelist Randall Luecke, a member of local band Crane Your Swan Neck, thinks the term “hipster” is only a word and has no great definitional impact.

“It’s a way for people to group [others], for people on the outside of the group,” Luecke said. “It’s not a unifier from the outside; it’s meant to cut it down.”

Y Mae Sussman, panelist and Wisconsin Union Directorate Music Committee member, said the term was pejorative, and “people generally don’t want to be called it.”

Dane County Supervisor Wyndham Manning, a panelist, argued the hipster culture can be derived from previous counterculture movements.

“The way that I see hipsters today is the sort of evolution of (the hippie) alternative culture, very music-driven,” Manning said.

Sussman pointed to how the hipster movement is not a cohesive, concrete movement, although some similarities among hipsters can be seen.

According to Sussman, some of the characteristics of the culture are a keen fashion sense and rampant consumption of media, like music and film. She went on to say some of the more prominent hipsters place high value on counterculture.

Ryan Huber, a clothing store owner and panelist, attributed some recognizable features to hipsters such as high-quality clothing like expensive, tapered jeans, messenger bags, “awesome bicycles” and a great amount of enthusiasm.

Sussman argued hipster fashion is not so different from the mainstream today, citing examples of hipster fashion in many of today’s high school students.

Bob Marshall, editor in chief of student music magazine Emmie, discussed how the hipster movement has become a marketing label.

“It’s a target audience. I think people know how to advertise to it, know how to sell to it,” Marshall said.

Sussman agreed with this notion of the term “hipster” as a marketing tool.

“I think marketers and commercial entities have seized upon this (culture),” Sussman said.

The panelists agreed music is an integral part of the hipster culture, while no singular musical taste could be found that all hipsters like.

Marshall pointed to Pitchfork Media’s website as a leader in what most hipsters listen to, but said “it was hard to find a formula for what people listen to.”

While not all panelists agreed on whether hipster culture was counterculture, Luecke said it comprises some elements of the hipster culture.

“If you challenge someone’s assumptions about how you should look, then it’s counter to something,” Leucke said.

Huber agreed, saying the culture runs against some societal norms.