PSA: Hipsters worse than polyamorites...unless hipsters ARE polyamorites. Then they're probably double-worse.

After a somewhat thorough (anecdotal evidence level rather than scientific-method level) investigation of the comments section on Dan Savage's sex advice column, "Savage Love," (an example of which can be found here, and which runs in the local Hartford Advocate and the Boston Phoenix) I've determined that somehow, the people at diehipster.com are both more disgusted and more likely to do something about it by the people they observe than are any of the commenters for "Savage Love."

I don't know whether "Savage Love" moderates its comments, removing any crazy reference to "the link between satanism and homosexuality" or whether the crowd at "Savage Love" just self-polices; it's likely that people who visit that website are there in order to agree on what Dan Savage says rather than lambast people who disagree. And it's less likely that straight, right-wing evangelicals (who might object to many of Dan's columns) will end up at "Savage Love" than that hipsters, the terminally self-referential, continually self-aware crowd most likely to Google "hipster" and read whatever comes up.

On the other hand, diehipster.com's telos is obvious from the get-go. It's a site set up to hate on hipsters.

The difference seems to be more than just academic, though. Somehow, hating on hipsters creates or encourages a level of sexism, racism and, I would say, fascism, that I haven't seen since the early days of the Internet (before everything you wrote in a chat room could eventually be traced back to you, and people thought the web was a great place to unleash their most vitriolic, anonymous hatreds, rather than a great place to network and advance their careers).

I'm fascinated by fascism, and, less admirably, by people who think calling someone they've never met a "c*nt," a "twat," or "fat" will improve their own lives somehow, or at least shore up their argument that "that bitch" is worth less than they are -- without citing any facts or even personal anecdotes to prove whatever marginal point they think is being made.

The trouble with this is that they do actually have a very complicated, worth-thinking-about point about assimilation, immigration, gentrification, generation gaps and attitudes.

What I get out of the message, though, is simply "get out of our neighborhood or we'll act like extremely rude, potty-mouthed third graders until we drive you out. Nyah." Rarely do commenters seem to recognize that employing personal attack in the effort to start this discussion is the equivalent of trying to get a bill through Congress by going on the Jerry Springer Show.