sweetheart

A youth subculture that is emerging from Denver, Colorado. Members of the sweetheart movement, sweethearts are kids who have realized how empty and fake the adult world is. They seek to escape the harshness of phony adult life by focusing on elements of childhood, and the simpler times of the past. The movement can be seen following the tradition of other youth based subcultures such as emo and indie however rather than only being based on music sweetheartism includes art, literature, fashion, culture and philosophy. Sweethearts understand the beauty and innocence of childhood, and emulate childhood by visiting playgrounds, playing board games, riding bikes, finger painting, reading children books, watching cartoons etc. Sweethearts also have a reverence for the past and are drawn to vintage, antique and retro objects, music, books. Specifically from the nineteenth century, and early 1900’s-1930’s. Though this may sound conservative, sweethearts also tend to have a sense of utopian idealism and believe in progressivism and societal reform. This philosophy is rooted in modernism, the belief that the world is inherently evil and cruel, and that you mind as well party it up while your here. Sweethearts differ from modernists in that they feels that somewhere in the world there is truth and beauty and that it can only be found through experiencing the good, pure, innocent side of life. In this way sweethearts also tend to resemble transcendentalists. Romanticism is also a primary aspect of sweetheartism, in that sweethearts tend to look for deep truths in everyday objects, household items, and elements of nature. Sweethearts are generally straightedge, they listen to modern indie rock, emo, jazz, swing, oldies or kids music. When sweethearts dance, they generally waltz, swing dance, or another form of ballroom dancing. Sweethearts, dress in a style that resembles little kids playing dress up. Boys wear ties, hats (like fedoras), slacks, and sometimes carry pocket watches. They tend to favor earth tones, plaids, and other patterns. Girls wear hippie skirts, pearls, ribbons. They favor, pastels and floral print. Sweethearts generally don’t wear prominent labels. Sweethearts, male or female, usually wear chuck taylors. Sweethearts also usually have a cloth heart sewn to their sleeves to represent the expression wearing their heart on they’re sleeve. Sweethearts believe in creativity and hobbies, and doing something constructive with your time. Because of this they often sew, knit, crochet, draw, paint, build, write, make music, sing, dance, etc. Sweethearts say things like golly, gee, jeepers, gosh, swell, keen, nifty, lovely. The gesture of making your hands into a heart is fairly sweetheart. Sweethearts are usually either searching for or in love with somebody. They are very romantic and very emotionally sensitive. When a sweetheart is in a relationship they like to ride bikes together, go to play grounds, diners. They like to slow dance, exchange stuffed animals. Kiss, snuggle, hold hands, cuddle. And do anything else sweet and romantic couples do. They are interested in the world around them and frequently study, language, nature, the weather, science, philosophy, religion, history, biology of there own free will. The like to watch the history channel and go to libraries and museums. The term sweetheart comes from the album dedication of The White Stripes Elephant, in which jack White describes how that which is pure and good can no longer exist in our world. The sweetheart movement can be seen as a direct response to that statement. An attempt to restore purity, and innocence to the world. Many sweethearts have greatestjournals and sometimes myspaces. To every sweetheart, sweetheart means something different. And while there is no official definition, most sweethearts don’t mind labels and fit this description pretty well. The movement is still extremely young but is spreading very rapidly.