About Straight Edge - A Definition of Sorts

By XXX Will Ulwick XXX XRevLordNikonX

(wulwick@smcvt.edu)

[I wrote this about a year ago in response to all the shit that went down/still going down, mainly on the west coast, with kids bringing trouble to the scene. It pissed me off so I wrote this and published in in our college newspaper here at Saint Michael's College in Vermont. So I thought that I would send it your way to see if you thought that it was interesting enough to post.]

STRAIGHT EDGE

In the underground hardcore/punk music scene there is a growing group of young people that call themselves “straight edge.” This is a movement among the youth of today that makes it “cool” to keep the body pure and improve their lifestyle. In the early eighties a man by the name of Ian Mackaye started a band called Minor Threat. There were a lot of people that associated punk music with drug use and the abuse of alcohol and Mackaye brought forth a philosophy that opposed this idea. The term “straight edge” comes from one of Minor Threats songs (the title escapes me at this time), where the lyrics go like this:

“I’m a person just like you
But I’ve got better things to do
Than sit around and smoke dope
Cause I know that I cope
Laugh at those eating ‘ludes
Laugh at the thought of sniffing glue
Always gonna keep in touch
Never gonna use a crutch..
I’VE GOT THE STRAIGHT EDGE”

To be straight edge is to keep the mind, body and soul free from self-destructive behavior; including drugs, alcohol, and even cigarettes. Straight edgers (sXe) see the harm that these substances cause and choose to free themselves of any crutch that may be used to replace happiness. Drugs and alcohol inhibit the ability to see clearly and are used as an escape, to temporarily hide from their daily problems. A sXe is strong enough not to hide, and strives to make their life better and themselves stronger by passing up the easy way out.

When attending a hardcore/punk show the sXe will be easy to spot due to the giant X’s that are drawn on their hand, usually with a black magic marker. This is the symbol that became adopted by the sXe because of the X a bouncer would put on the hand of anyone under 21, attending the show, so that they wouldn’t be served alcohol. A true “edger” is extremely proud to be so and wears the X’s to show his/her choice to be free from impurity. Another common symbol that has been adopted by sXe is the simple three X’s (XXX). The meaning of the three is not entirely clear (there is no definition of what each X stands for and each sXe may give a different answer). To some they mean: no drugs, no alcohol, no promiscuous sex (or no sex in general); and to others one X is for mind, one for soul, and one for body – each of the things that remain pure.

There are different reasons for which people choose to be sXe. Some have had family or friends seriously hurt by the use of drugs or alcohol or some people just see the harm that substances cause and choose not to use them. I chose to be sXe because I thought that it was dumb how people my age (19) would go out to get drunk every weekend just for fun. I never understood this. I could never see why people would want to impair themselves so that they couldn’t even remember what they were doing the night before. Obviously I have heard the many horror stories of drinking deaths in college but I made the choice long before I even thought of college. I have never been drunk and have never used any drugs other than over the counter pain reliever (Motrin) for headaches and for pain caused by arthritis. I never plan to use drugs or to drink because I have never had the desire. When a person chooses to be sXe, they choose it for life. It’s not one of those things that you can be one weekend and then not the next.

When anyone chooses a rebellious path they are subjecting themselves to ridicule and question. That’s why the deviants must be well educated on the subject. Often I know more about the affects of drugs and alcohol than the people that are using them. Many sXe are well educated on the topics of drugs and alcohol because it is this knowledge that makes them strong, it makes their defense.

Often when there is an article about sXe it is because of violence. There are members of the scene that are violent and not only oppose the use of drugs and alcohol but will verbally and sometimes physically attack people seen smoking a cigarette. This is not straight edge. A true sXe will respect the choice of others even if they don’t agree with them. We promote knowledge on the subject and true sXe are not violent towards others.

It is good to see that the scene is growing. There is even a straight edge house on campus (A-Team) that promotes moderation in consumption. Now the numbers are increasing and we are growing stronger. More young people are choosing to go against the norm and make the right choice to be in total control over their body and mind at all times.

A sXe is the “standard of purity.”

-XXX Will Ulwick XXX

XRevLordNikonX