Straight Edge.

Volt-Zorg Boy:

in general terms Emerald Muerte is right
straight edge normally pertains to not smoking / drinking / doing any type of recreational drugs
if you call yourself straight edge because you don't do any of that it's generally accepted that you are straight edge

people have taken straight edge to mean:
vegan
veggie
'all about the music' - that being hardcore
militant - the people who are beating drunks up for fun
abstaining from premiscous sex

and that exactly why I don't like Straight Edge, had has become a gang...no a militia. It is absoultely ridiculous that they best up people who are drunk or whatever, its not their body, its the person using.

To me Striaght Edge is pathetic. I've said this before, and I'll say it agian, instead of them saying "oh I'm so supurior because I won't drink or do drugs, so that gives me a god complex and I can hurt someone else for their awful decision." if thats not what Straight Edge people are trying to say, then they better act out better. They say that their way is the only way, and they want to be an example? how is beating up someone who at the time is empaired a "wonderful" example? If they really wanted to make a difference, they wouldn't do that, they would do things to help prevent drugs into their nieghborhood and into lives, not by beating up drug dealers, but by holding activities so people have something to do instead of get impaired, educate kids, and so on. If they can do that, then you know what, they would be a great example. For now though they aren't and I find straight edge pathetic

Volt-Zorg Boy:

Drinking ≠ stupid. Strait edge ≠ smart
my class validictorian drank occasionaly and would make pot bakery goods

Exactly. Not everyone who does drugs or drinks is an idiot.
Some of the smartest people I know occasionally drink.

Emerald Muerte:

Okay, fair enough;I see what you mean. I'm sorry if that came out sounding like that. I value straight-edgeness because I think it's good for me, and if you [you in general] choose not to follow I respect that. The only reason I was talking about it is because I view it as being relevant in terms of the kind of people I'm with at school and stuff who seem to get themselves in a lot of trouble due to their influence of drugs and alcohol, but in saying that I understand that other people can handle it and I appreciate that. I guess it didn't sound like I considered that side in my last post, thanks for picking that up. [:

What high schoolers and college age people do with drugs isn't really relevant to all of it though. Teens do stupid stuff whether they're on drugs or not. (no offense)
So the people you go to school with may be idiotic with drugs and alcohol, but they would probably still be idiotic without it.

My Dear Delirious:

To me Striaght Edge is pathetic. I've said this before, and I'll say it agian, instead of them saying "oh I'm so supurior because I won't drink or do drugs, so that gives me a god complex and I can hurt someone else for their awful decision." if thats not what Straight Edge people are trying to say, then they better act out better. They say that their way is the only way, and they want to be an example? how is beating up someone who at the time is empaired a "wonderful" example? If they really wanted to make a difference, they wouldn't do that, they would do things to help prevent drugs into their nieghborhood and into lives, not by beating up drug dealers, but by holding activities so people have something to do instead of get impaired, educate kids, and so on. If they can do that, then you know what, they would be a great example. For now though they aren't and I find straight edge pathetic

That's not true. I think straight-edge is starting to sound like a high-school stereotype [if it hadn't already]. No offence, but contrary to popular belief [it seems] not all straight-edgers think they're high and mighty or beat up drug dealers for that matter. Okay so they are not afraid to speak out against drugs/alcohol abuse but that doesn't mean they beat up people who choose against their morals. For me being straight-edge is a personal decision and if I know people who are abusing drugs/alcohol, or are vulnerable to doing so, I believe that raising awareness about the negative toll it can take on people is a good thing. Not that it's all negative, just the abuse of it is, again if you can handle it that's cool.
It's not all 'we're high and mighty, you're pathetic and weak because you choose to drink for fun' no, not at all. I think the only way that people could think straightedgers are like that is due to the fact that generally, someone who promotes drugs/alcohol as being fun or more importantly cool is not someone who we share that belief with and therefore will probably avoid associating with. That would have to be the only case.

Eponine:

What high schoolers and college age people do with drugs isn't really relevant to all of it though. Teens do stupid stuff whether they're on drugs or not. (no offense)
So the people you go to school with may be idiotic with drugs and alcohol, but they would probably still be idiotic without it.

I agree, being a teenager in general pretty much means being experimental, or pressured to do so. We can be idiots. It seems a relevant topic though when you associate with that kind of social group everyday who usually find parties, guys and getting [supposedly] drunk/high a particularly interesting [attention-grabbing] piece of conversation, when most of those are things I personally find pretty uncool.

Emerald Muerte:

I agree, being a teenager in general pretty much means being experimental, or pressured to do so. We can be idiots. It seems a relevant topic though when you associate with that kind of social group everyday who usually find parties, guys and getting [supposedly] drunk/high a particularly interesting [attention-grabbing] piece of conversation, when most of those are things I personally find pretty uncool.

I've never even been to a real 'high school party'. But people I know who have say that it's really lame, that everyone just stands around awkwardly and then gets high. I'm no fan of getting drunk either, but I like the taste of alcohol. (not beer, beer tastes like piss) When I do drink, if i get drunk (which I haven't actually been, but it will happen someday), it'd be more of an accident then "haha I'm so cool let's get drunk!"

Emerald Muerte:

That's not true. I think straight-edge is starting to sound like a high-school stereotype [if it hadn't already]. No offence, but contrary to popular belief [it seems] not all straight-edgers think they're high and mighty or beat up drug dealers for that matter. Okay so they are not afraid to speak out against drugs/alcohol abuse but that doesn't mean they beat up people who choose against their morals. For me being straight-edge is a personal decision and if I know people who are abusing drugs/alcohol, or are vulnerable to doing so, I believe that raising awareness about the negative toll it can take on people is a good thing. Not that it's all negative, just the abuse of it is, again if you can handle it that's cool.
It's not all 'we're high and mighty, you're pathetic and weak because you choose to drink for fun' no, not at all. I think the only way that people could think straightedgers are like that is due to the fact that generally, someone who promotes drugs/alcohol as being fun or more importantly cool is not someone who we share that belief with and therefore will probably avoid associating with. That would have to be the only case.

I agree with you, I'm sorry I didn't mean to sound so stereotypical. There are straight-edgers out there who don't throw their beliefs in your face then look down on you, but the ones i have might for the most part are and I watched a documentery on straight-edge, almost everyone of the people they interviewed did seem like "oh I'm holier or higher then you because I don't get mtself wasted every chance I get" and they were talking about how with some people it is a gang and they do resort to violence often agianst like drug dealers and stuff.

I'm sorry if I offened you. But then agian like you said, how many people look at someone who abuses drugs and think, "omg, what a f'in idiot, they are just wasting their life away." Well in all honesty, I use to have a drug abuse problem, and I try to be very intellegent, like I read alot, I have an opinion on everything (as you can tell), and i know a guy, he's the smartest guy I know, he did almost every drug there is. He's getting clean, but due to the fact that he;s been smoking pot since he was like 9, now 8 years later he's trying to quit and he has awful withdrawls (he also did like alot of cocaine, meth, everything) and he'll have withdrawls for the nest two years.Lucky when I smoked pot (for the short amount of time i did, my drug of choose was overmedicating on painkillers and allergy meds) I only had pretty minor symptoms of withdrawl. It is our bodies, and most drug users know the risk, but ussually they just need something or they just want an escape, I can't tell you how great an escape can be. But does that make me a total irresponsible person? I mean my "straight edge" friends found out about me smoking, they didn't talk to me, they went around and told everyone...one of the did in fact beat me up (and he had just started being straight edge like two weeks before)... I don't think that all straight edgers are like that, but a good portion do

My friends in Michigan actually used to be a part of a sXe gang; they would pretty much go to shows and beat up people they saw drunk, smoking, or doing drugs. Thankfully, they have grown out of it, and are all avid drunks/drug users (Im kidding about the thankfully part, but I do accept them for for they are and glad they arn't hurting people anymore)
The whole mindset to those gangs is that they want to scare you into being straight, which is wrong. The whole idea of pushing your so called morality on another is wrong, which is what I find so annoying about most sXe kids. The ones I know best, who actually affiliate themselves with the term are complete jerks. They both used to do tons of drugs and got clean. Now, even if you light up in from of them they actually make fun of you. It's not a one time thing either, they won't stop bothering you even if you ask. Nobody really likes them for this. Good thing they have eachother.
While I was never sXe, I was always personally against drug and alcohol use until I felt like I was keeping myself from more life experiences, so i'v had my share of drugs and sex and whatnot. Still hate alcohol, but I think it's best to get a feel for both world and be somewhere in the middle, so you can understand exactly how the world works

My friends in Michigan actually used to be a part of a sXe gang; they would pretty much go to shows and beat up people they saw drunk, smoking, or doing drugs. Thankfully, they have grown out of it, and are all avid drunks/drug users (Im kidding about the thankfully part, but I do accept them for for they are and glad they arn't hurting people anymore)
The whole mindset to those gangs is that they want to scare you into being straight, which is wrong. The whole idea of pushing your so called morality on another is wrong, which is what I find so annoying about most sXe kids. The ones I know best, who actually affiliate themselves with the term are complete jerks. They both used to do tons of drugs and got clean. Now, even if you light up in from of them they actually make fun of you. It's not a one time thing either, they won't stop bothering you even if you ask. Nobody really likes them for this. Good thing they have eachother.
While I was never sXe, I was always personally against drug and alcohol use until I felt like I was keeping myself from more life experiences, so i'v had my share of drugs and sex and whatnot. Still hate alcohol, but I think it's best to get a feel for both world and be somewhere in the middle, so you can understand exactly how the world works

My Dear Delirious,
was the documentary a recent one by national geographic?
all of the people i know who are straight edge hate the one national geographic put out becuase it makes every person who is straight edge seem like their main hobbies are beating up drunks and drug dealers.

Volt-Zorg Boy:

My Dear Delirious,
was the documentary a recent one by national geographic?
all of the people i know who are straight edge hate the one national geographic put out becuase it makes every person who is straight edge seem like their main hobbies are beating up drunks and drug dealers.

..... I'm afriad to say yes. But they did feature Straight Edgers who weren't like that

My Dear Delirious:

Volt-Zorg Boy:

My Dear Delirious,
was the documentary a recent one by national geographic?
all of the people i know who are straight edge hate the one national geographic put out becuase it makes every person who is straight edge seem like their main hobbies are beating up drunks and drug dealers.

..... I'm afriad to say yes. But they did feature Straight Edgers who weren't like that

if we're talking about the same one, i know they did. I saw the trailer and was so dissapointed i knew if i saw it i'd break something
did it show a whole bunch of kids bowling, who seemed like they didnt' have any friends?

I gotta clear thisss upppp.

It really bothers me when people who claim to be Straight Edge don't even
know what it means, or even how it started.


Straight Edge started in Washington D.C. by a punk band called MINOR THREAT in the early 1980s.

No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol.
There are NO dietary or religious beliefs tied to Straight Edge, contrary
to popular belief.

Minor Threat was tired of the pain, suffering, and self-destruction caused
by the punk scene and mentality. The "fuck you!" attitude didn't make
sense to them.

The "X"s on their hands was taken from the symbol that identified them as
being too young to drink at shows, so the bartenders would know not to
serve them.

Minor Threat wrote "Straight Edge" a song, which also gave this new
self-respecting movement a name. Minor Threat influnced other D.C.
bands like Teen Idles and SOA, and the Boston bands SS Decontrol and
DYS - who took this movement to heart and wanted to spread the word. It
spread from East Coast to West Coast.

Bands like Youth of Today, Bold, Side By Side, Gorilla Biscuits, Judge,
and Project X are the BACKBONE of Straight Edge.
More than a personal belief, it was a MOVEMENT.
The late 1980s and early 1990s found many straight edge bands
becoming more and more political and more geographically dispersed.
California saw bands like Inside Out, Insted, Chain of Strength,
Outspoken, No for an Answer, Carry Nation, Chorus of disapproval and
Unbroken. Seattle saw bands like Brotherhood and Undertow. The east
coast had Turning Point, Mouthpiece, Flagmen, Crud, Battery, and
Lifetime.



In the 1990s "Hardline" came about. Hardline Straight Edge includes
violence. Hardline gangs came together and would go as far as killing
people who weren't Straight Edge, and especially people who claimed to
be Edge, then went back on their word.

HARDLINE is against eating meat and promiscuous sex, NOT STRAIGHT
EDGE.

Once Straight Edge was considered a "cult", because of Hardliners.

Now Straight Edge is considered a personal belief, and people abuse the
name, claiming Edge when their not, just to be cool.

"Straight Edge" can be interpreted in many ways,
I've heard things like:
No smoking
No Tobacco
No drinking
No Caffine
No Medicine at all (not even for illnesses, like Advil)
No sex
No promiscuous sex
No oral/hand sex
No meat
No dairy
the list goes on and on and on...

THE ORIGINAL STRAIGHT EDGE:
NO SMOKING, NO DRUGS, NO DRINKING.

Straight Edge, Minor Threat

"I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and fuck my head
Hang out with the living dead
Snort white shit up my nose
Pass out at the shows
I don't even think about speed
That's something I just don't need

I've got the straight edge

I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and smoke dope
'Cause I know I can cope
Laugh at the thought of eating ludes
Laugh at the thought of sniffing glue
Always gonna keep in touch
Never want to use a crutch

I've got the straight edge!"

Don't post just to say you're about to post, please.

I posted that long post twice, I had to edit it.

Thanks.

My Dear Delirious:

To me Straight Edge is pathetic. I've said this before, and I'll say it agian, instead of them saying "oh I'm so supurior because I won't drink or do drugs, so that gives me a god complex and I can hurt someone else for their awful decision."

I'm going to have to agree with you on that one. I think that, no matter the genuinely good intentions that it began with, it's now become this 'scene' thing where any old idiot can go, 'Oh I'm so totally edge' and strut around like they're better than everyone else (and yet you always seem to catch them sneaking cigarettes and drinks when they think nobody's looking).
I will admit that I haven't had that much experience with people who identify with being sXe, but the ones I have come across, are total morons. The one who sticks out in my mind, for all the wrong reasons, was some random imbecile who kept messaging me on MySpace when I started my profile, calling me names and condemning the way I lived my life, without any provocation. He sounded like a real bible-basher, and eventually I just reported him and forgot all about him. Then, as my friends started putting on profiles, he would pick them out and attack them as well, saying exactly the same crap he said to me. I have never even MET this guy. I don't know who he is. But he just wouldn't leave us alone.
Anyway, I know that's just one case where a person has stepped way over the line, but I really don't agree with all this labelling of oneself.
I, for one, drink maybe once or twice a year (I'm not kidding, like, Christmas is the only time I drink - I don't even drink on my birthday anymore). I have not touched drugs in over two years (okay, it will be two years as of October 14th). I do smoke, but I do not have 'promiscuous sex' or whatever (that is, I'm married so yes I have sex, quite a lot of it, but it's with my husband and nobody else).
I do not, however, identify myself as strait-edge. I don't see a point in advertising my lifestyle choices, and I don't see a point in labelling myself. I think anybody who feels an inherent necessity to tag themselves as a particular thing in order to be accepted by others who tag themselves the same, is pretty pathetic. Be your own person, not some sheep who needs to belong to a clique in order to be happy. Especially if that group is full of cretins who feel the need to go around bashing people who don't follow their ideals, and full of contradictions (ie a lot of people who claim to be edge cannot agree for sure on whether certain attributes make you edge or not - I've even seen some 'edgers' claim that swearing is not allowed, but I haven't heard that here yet).
I also do not believe in anybody who is under the legal age limit in their country, being straight-edge for avoiding drugs and alcohol. In my opinion, if you're not allowed to be doing the shit to start with, then you can't claim to be 'edge'. As I've said in another thread, do five-year-olds hang out on the playground claiming to be edge because they've never gotten drunk? Teenage peer pressure, blah. You're not legally allowed to consume alcohol, use drugs or smoke anyway, so if you avoid those things, you're just obeying the law. I know adults aren't allowed to take illicit drugs either, but the fact is, they're out there. People who choose not to use them are not edge, they're just abiding by the law.

All in all, I think as far as trends go, sXe is a pretty stupid one. Almost as dumb as 'purity/promise' rings etc. Live your life according to your own values, and stop feeling some desperate, pathetic need to advertise it to everyone in order to fit in. If you don't drink or do drugs, then just don't do it. No need to go around announcing that you're 'straight-edge' to all and sundry.

I agree with you, Donna. I recently had a conversation with my adopted daughter about crossing the line from making responsible choices for herself to judging others for their lifestyles and/or struggles with addiction. I don't think she even realized that addiction is a) inherited; b) latent and c) a disease, not a lifestyle choice.

Never mind that she is also underage. I remember my father telling my own 17-year old self that my radically liberal stance would undergo some adjustment as I got older (just as his own did) due to the fact that I simply lacked the knowledge from experience that very few things are black and white.

Edgers, like all of us, need to be careful of hurling judgment around. In the immortal words of someone very famous (and someone who, I suspect, quite a few Edgers hold in rather high regard): "Judge not lest ye be judged."

I always tell staunch Anythingists about myself - all my years as a working mother, looking down upon the "welfare mothers;" maintaining that they chose that lifestyle, rather than making any effort to pick themselves up. My husband warned me often "You should really refrain from judgment; you never know where life might take you." Of course I scoffed at this "What are you talking about? I work! I would never do what they are doing!" P.S.: Kenny got sick; we both lost our jobs, and we wound up relying upon food stamps, Medicaid and church food banks for almost two years of our lives.

The message is pretty clear: you cannot judge a man until you've walked in his shoes. I now refuse to label even those who directly contradict my own value systems. The only humans left on the planet whom I allow myself to look down upon now are those who depravedly rape or kill children or animals. Perhaps this is wrong as well, but I am fairly confident that I will never find myself in that position.

I have lots of friends who are straight edge and I'm toying with the idea of going sxe. Unlike what seems to be the sad majority, our group does not look down on people who do drugs or drink or smoke, because most of us have been there at some point in time. We just choose to abstain, but we don't exclude anyone if they don't.

I just wanted to share to hopefully help break the all-egotistical image many of you seem to have of straightedgers. Yes, the vast majority are elitist and fake, but trust me, there are some who do it for the right reasons and are completely kind.

^ That's all well and good, but like I said, why this desperate need to label oneself? I would probably technically qualify as being sXe, because I drink so little it doesn't really count, and I don't do drugs that aren't prescribed by a doctor (and then, I don't abuse them - they are given to me for a purpose, they serve their purpose, and I stop).
But I don't identify myself as straight-edge. I don't feel the need to associate myself with anybody who labels themselves as that. I just do what I think is the best thing for me, and don't bother advertising.

I think this is where it's become stupid. People who are so determined to be included in a clique, will mindlessly follow that clique's 'rules', and that's why most non-edgers automatically assume that people who call themselves straight-edge, are the idiots who lord it over people who don't. Because, as I said, there are millions of people in the world who, for their own reasons, do not smoke, drink, do drugs, or do any of the things that straight-edgers look down upon. But they either don't know that the term exists, or they don't care, because they just do what they want and don't feel the need to advertise that they don't do whatever edgers don't do. They're just normal people.

Cigarettes And Suicide:

I think this is where it's become stupid. People who are so determined to be included in a clique, will mindlessly follow that clique's 'rules', and that's why most non-edgers automatically assume that people who call themselves straight-edge, are the idiots who lord it over people who don't.

I wouldn't think my friends were being mindless. It's considered a choice in this society because it is. None of us are "determined to be included in a clique" because we don't have one. It's just us, chilling with each other. Three of us (including myself) used to heavily abuse any substance we could get our hands on, and so it has become a choice for us to quit our old habits. The only "rule" is that we don't do it anymore and we attempt to fill the gap left behind with healthier things and choices. But why would we look down on substance-abusing people if most of us were those same people? That would be hypocritical. And if we did, my friends wouldn't hate me or "lord over me". Sure, they may not approve, but none of my friends would start to be an asshole to me if I drank champagne at a wedding or something. Actually, both me and another person are not strictly "sxe" since we drink at formal occasions.