A conformist to the Beats. They irritated Jack Kerouac (founder of the beats) to the point where he said he hated them.

A group of models dressed in black that possed for life magazine in the late 50's under the heading "Beatniks". It was the mainstreamization of the beat culture, and was the end of the genuine beat underground.

Someone who is beat by society, someone
at the bottom of the bucket.Someone
who has been down so long it looks like
up.A part of the lost generation. A cool
cat,a beatnik, man.

as the first person said, pre-date hippies by about 20 years, were interested in poetry, art, literature.

One of the most awesome stores in downtown Belleville, Illinois. Specialized in shirts printed with:
-Bellevegas
-Belleville East High School Lancers
-Belleville West High School Maroons
-Keep East Saint Louis Beautiful
-I <3 Belleville/O'fallon/Alton, Illinois
and of course home of the Rocket, the funniest faux newspaper around!

a misogynist pop culture of the 1950's.

A beatnik is an idiot.
Someone who thinks (or thought) it was the cool thing to drink coffee and recite poetry in between impatiently waiting for some other beatnik to finish reading his own shit poems and give the cue for your turn.
As Bukowski said of them at a party - 'I disliked them all immediately, sitting around acting clever and superior. They nullified each other.'