Straight Edge

What is straight edge? sXe? Though there isn't a specific straight-edge look, this article will teach you how to live the sXe lifestyle.

Straight Edge, sXe, or edge, is a subculture that started in the hardcore punk culture and has moved into many other subcultures over the years. Straight edge is a philosophy of staying clean and sober: meaning refraining from using alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drugs. The principle "don't drink, don't smoke, don't free-sex" which came to be in the late 80s by Ian MacKaye and the band Minor Threat. The basic beliefs that drugs and alcohol were not needed and should be rejected. That one should live against the grain of popular society and live by rules and standards from themselves and not the ones dictated by society.

And what is X on your hand? In the late 1970s and early 1980s a group of bands and kids began something that grew into a movement. It would become a movement that would outlive many of their involvement in the music and the scene. They didn't know what they were doing. They knew they didn't like what was going on around them, the self destruction, the self hatred, the pain and suffering caused by the punk mentality. The free sex attitude and all text above didn't make sense to them. They took a symbol that was originally used to identify them as being too young to drink so that the bartenders would know not to serve them and they made it their own. So they started setting themselves apart by wearing X's on their hands and by singing angry songs proclaiming:

"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"

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.

Since the late 1970s, straight edge has been a part of the punk scene. During that time, a wide variety of beliefs and ideas have been incorporated into straight edge including violence, vegetarianism, animal rights, communism and Hare Krishna beliefs. In many parts of the United States, straight edge is treated as a gang; however, recent studies suggest that only a small minority of the people who refer to themselves as straight edge are violent.

Now, we know what is X on their hand and what is straight edge. There are no dietary or religious beliefs tied to straight edge. And yes I’m Straight Edge! I think with straight edge we can life better. How about you? =)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge