Not to be confused with the tool known as a straight edge, or the song the subculture takes its name from "Straight Edge"
Straight edge is a subculture and subgenre of hardcore punk. whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs. It was a direct reaction to the sexual revolution, hedonism, and excess associated with punk rock
For some, this extends to not engaging in promiscuous sex, following a vegetarian or vegan diet, and not using caffeine or prescription drugs.
The term was adopted from the song "Straight Edge" by the 1980s hardcore punk band Minor Threat
Straight edge emerged amid the mid-1980s hardcore punk scene. Since then, a wide variety of beliefs and ideas have been incorporated into the movement, including vegetarianism, animal rights, communism and Hare Krishna beliefs.
In many parts of the United States, straight edge is treated as a gang by law enforcement officials
A 2006 study suggested that the vast majority of people who identify as straight edge are nonviolent.
Terminology
Authors have adopted a variety of terms for the subculture as well as for individuals that have adopted the lifestyle.
Several permutations of the term have been adopted by sxe
History
In 1999, William Tsitsos wrote that straight edge had gone through three eras since its founding in the early 1980 Later analysts have identified another era that has taken place since Tsitsos's writing.
1970s and early 1980s: Minor Threat. the coiners of the term "straight edge"
Straight edge grew out of hardcore punk
in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was partly characterized by shouted rather than sung vocals.
Straight edge individuals of this early era often associated with the original punk ideals such as individualism, disdain for work and school, and live-for-the-moment attitudes.
Straight edge sentiments can be found in songs by the early 1980s band Minor Threat, most explicitly within their song "Straight Edge"
first wave English punk band The Vibrators song "Keep It Clean" and Jonathan Richman's early band The Modern Lovers 1970s song "I'm Straight", which rejected drug use. As one of the few prominent 1970s hard rock
icons to explicitly eschew alcohol and drug use, singer/guitarist Ted Nugent was also a key influence on the straight edge ideology.
Straight edge started on the East Coast of the United States in Washington D.C, and quickly spread throughout the US and Canada.
By the 1980s, bands on the West Coast of the United States, such as America's Hardcore (A.H.C.), Stalag 13, Justice League and Uniform Choice, were gaining popularity. In the early stages of this subculture's history, concerts often consisted of non-straight-edge punk bands along with straight edge bands. Circumstances soon changed and the early 1980s would eventually be viewed as the time "before the two scenes separated". Early straight edge bands included: the Washington D.C. bands Minor Threat, State of Alert (S.O.A.), Government Issue, Teen Idles, and The Faith, Reno's 7 Seconds, Boston's SSD, DYS and Negative FX
California bands as mentioned above and New York City bands such as Cause for Alarm and The Abused.
X Symbols
The letter "X" is the most known symbol of straight edge, and is sometimes worn as a marking on the back of both hands, though it can be displayed on other body parts as well. Some followers of straight edge have also incorporated the symbol into clothing and pins. According to a series of interviews by journalist Michael Azerrad, the straight edge "X" can be traced to the Teen Idles' brief U.S. West Coast tour in 1980.
The Teen Idles were scheduled to play at San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens, but when the band arrived, club management discovered that the entire band was under the legal drinking age and therefore would be denied entry to the club. As a compromise, management marked each of the Idles' hands with a large black "X" as a warning to the club's staff not to serve alcohol to the band. Upon returning to Washington, D.C., the band suggested this same system to local clubs as a means to allow teenagers in to see musical performances without being served alcohol.
The Teen Idles released a record in 1980 called "Minor Disturbance" with the cover shot being two hands with black "X"s on the back.
The mark soon became associated with the Straight Edge lifestyle. Later bands have used the "X" symbol on album covers and other paraphernalia in a variety of ways. The cover of "No Apologies" by Judge shows two crossedgavels in the "X symbol"
Other objects that have been used include shovels, baseball bats, and hockey sticks.
A variation involving a trio of "X"s, "XXX", is often used in show flyers and tattoos. This can be used to show that an adherent is extremely straight edge.
Also, it can be ironic based on the fact that three "X"s was popularized in cartoons and television shows to signify alcohol or poison. Historically, moonshiners used an "X" to notate how many times a particular batch of moonshine ran through the still adding additional irony.
The term is sometimes abbreviated by including an "X" with the abbreviation of the term "straight edge" to give "sXe".
By analogy, hardcore punk is sometimes abbreviated to "hXc".
Source: wikipedia.
