DUDE VALUES

Issues of Production: The Productive Dude vs. The Non-Productive Dude
A subtle difference worth noting is found in examination of the relationship of the dude and his/her object of consumption. Most hipsters feel their track record of consumption amounts to something more essential than mere taste, but in many cases (re: contrarians and jerks), "things" are finitely valued for their obscurity and cultural capital they provide within dude's subgroup. What happens when a dude becomes productive, actively participating in the creation of aesthetic goods? Though there is no automatic result, it seems likely that participation in creative production decreases the compulsion to value consumables for the obscurity or uniqueness alone. Perhaps the common ground of material focus within both consumption and production activities may subtly influence the scope of value judgments, producing an incisiveness not found in the non-productive dude. (Compare: Motivated Hipster – Hipster – Rock Star)

Issues of Production (sub-issue #1): relationship to ideas of authenticity
This issue affects both the productive and non-productive dude equally; this is a particular problem with musicians, as decades of dude-friendly music has centered around the aura of authenticity, at times played for the only factor when considering quality. Our research has shown an obsession with authenticity only acts as a barrier to the path of awesomeness, and is more likely a tool for jerks/vocal opinionists that, in the end, actually have no real value.

MARRIAGE
Dicks and Folks define and use marriage for their own purposes, but Dudes understand that the will to join forces (or whatever) has natural presence for every (human) being. The battle for restriction is laughable when we witness what some dudes have “married”:
• Dog/Reptile
• Musical Instrument or Band
• Album/Comic collection
• Bike
• Unemployment
• Quasi and actual martial arts
• Pants
• Coffee
• The French/France

Marriage to a consumable material is often attempted but not recommended, as the renewal of consummation becomes a source of obsession and warps the Dude away from a necessary security of self-possession. This Dude becomes a ZOMBIE or FIEND (depending on the availability of the desired material), and values other humans only as much as they permit access to his Monsterism.


The T-Shirt, or, The Dude Uniform
Dude relations are not fundamentally combative, sexual, or familial. Yet, just as animals will send each other mating signals or perform elaborate rituals of simulated combat, just as aboriginal peoples wear special headdresses and body markings to establish tribal identity, so must dudes send each other coded messages to initiate a dudal relationship. This is accomplished through t-shirts.

T-shirts come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the three most important types are message t-shirts, band t-shirts, and ironic t-shirts. A message t-shirt would include something like “Free Mumia Abu-Jamal,” a band t-shirt is self-explanatory, and an ironic t-shirt would be something like a teddy bear hugging a rainbow. Occasionally, a t-shirt will be all three, like an N’Sync t-shirt that indicated which member one considered the cutest. One must be careful, though, when wearing a t-shirt that says something like “Eric Clapton is God,” that one is understood to be an ironic hipster dude and not confused with a Bro.