The hipster's skinny jeans were so uncomfortably tight that it looked like someone had taken denim-colored spray paint and covered his legs. As he walked, a campus onlooker wondered if jeans that tight could give the hipster's butt cheeks cleavage. The hipster took out a pipe, sat on the bench next to Usdan and started smoking for all to see. Hearing the hipster talk about vinyl records, the genius that is Elliot Smith and how Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend sound nothing alike was like street theater.

Those who had the pleasure of walking by were tempted to throw coins into the hipster's coffee mug and thank him for falling into every category of the subculture we know as "nonconformist." Students took pleasure in being able to label the hipster a "hipster;" the act of labeling was a blistering ad hominem attack.

The reality is that whenever we are able to label and categorize an individual, we have (or perhaps think we have) a certain power over them. It is almost as if we have a greater understanding of them than they do of themselves.

By categorizing individuals we also disarm them. Whenever our social status or dignity is compromised, we can always use the weapon of categorizing those around us to give us leverage in the exchange.

A recent New York Times article about the sociology of hipsters mentioned this phenomenon, saying, "Taste is social currency." This means that we use our personal tastes-specifically music and clothing, according to the Times article-to elevate our social status and warrant our entitlement to certain privileges.

I'd like to think about it this way: When two people are sharing an iPod, and the hipster of the two comments, "You listen to this crap music?" the individual who listens to "crap music" is compromised because the hipster used his distinguished taste to elevate the other's own social status. In reality, though, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Musical preference is as arbitrary as preferences one has in regard to soft drinks.

Clothing offers another obvious example of taste we use to reinforce our sense of entitlement and superiority. Brandeis students wearing a sorority or fraternity sweater have a certain stigma that follows them. The same is true of people who wear Birkenstocks in cold weather. We have built identities around a clothing item to compensate for when we fail to connect with a particular group.

I highlight this point to address the way we use clothing to identify others in order to categorize them. When a person is threatened in the social hierarchy, he or she can easily point to how the person threatening them is acting like a typical frat guy or sorority girl.

While this defense mechanism seems effective in the short run, it in fact only reinforces social class structure and strengthens the schisms between groups. A social hierarchy exists, and while we cannot dismantle it, we must find a way to view and understand it.

While tastes are ways of expressing individuality, they do not, in fact, define the individual. College students experiment with different masks and identities through music, clothing and groups with which they affiliate. It is more than fair to say that these forms of expression can be used as a lens to understand other students. It is not fair to use these forms of expression as a rubric for judging or categorizing an individual.

Accept people's choices and allow them to grow and develop a better understanding of themselves. Too many times, we understand these brief moments of experimentation as concrete decisions that speak to the fabric of one's core identity.

Instead, allow people to make mistakes, learn, grow and foster a stronger sense of identity. I once heard an adage that described human beings as "human becomings." This addresses the constant state of fluctuation that is our identity.

So the next time you see a hipster, a hippie or a frat guy being a typical XYZ, make sure to remember that people are experimenting. Remember that college is a time for growth and not for stagnation. We all categorize people to put the world in order. Let's not let this exercise impede our ability to appreciate people's growth.