Straight edge
Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses.[1][2][3] Some adherents refrain from engaging in casual sex, follow a vegetarian or vegan diet and do not consume caffeine or prescription drugs.[4] The term "straight edge" was adopted from the 1981 song "Straight Edge" by the hardcore punk band Minor Threat.[5]
This article is about the punk subculture. For the tool used for drawing straight lines, see Straightedge. For the song from which the subculture takes its name, see Straight Edge (song).
The straight edge subculture emerged amid the early-1980s hardcore punk scene. Since then, a wide variety of beliefs and ideas have been associated with the movement, including vegetarianism and animal rights.[6][7] While the commonly expressed aspects of the straight edge subculture have been abstinence from alcohol, nicotine, and illegal drugs, there have been considerable variations. Disagreements often arise as to the primary reasons for living straight edge. Straight edge politics vary, from explicitly revolutionary to conservative. Some activists have approached straight edge with skepticism, ridicule or even outright hostility in part due to what they perceived as the straight edge movement's self-righteous militancy.[8]
In 1999, William Tsitsos wrote that straight edge had gone through three eras since its founding in the early 1980s.[9] Bent edge began as a counter-movement to straight edge by members of the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene who were frustrated by the rigidity and intolerance in the scene.[10] During the youth crew era, which started in the mid-1980s, the influence of music on the straight edge scene was at an all-time high. By the early 1990s, militant straight edge was a well-known part of the wider punk scene. In the early to mid-1990s, straight edge spread from the United States to Northern Europe,[11] Eastern Europe,[12] the Middle East,[13] and South America.[14] By the beginning of the 2000s, militant straight edge punks had largely left the broader straight edge culture and movement.[15]
Veganism[edit]
By the late 1990s, many straight edge participants gave veganism the same degree of importance as abstinence from intoxicants, and some groups styled themselves "vegan straight edge",[71] sometimes abbreviated "xVx".[72] Bands such as Earth Crisis and Vegan Reich emphasized animal rights and environmentalism as social justice issues.[73] Perhaps owing to the "DIY" ethic of the punk subculture, some advocated direct action, and became associated with the radical groups Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front.[74] The California band Vegan Reich is most associated with the "Hardline" subculture, which espouses the sanctity of life, and draws connections between animal rights and anti-abortion activism.[75][76] Members of the Hardline movement have been described as espousing Old Testament-style spirituality,[76] militancy, and violence.[75] Violent activism has been described as an "extreme minority" within the vegan straight edge movement.[77]
Haenfler writes that straight edge participants see veganism as an extension of the movement's emphasis on positivity, much like its preference to reserve sex for emotionally meaningful relationships.[78] They tend to focus more on personal responsibility and focus less on confronting systemic issues in society.[79] However, veganism is not seen as a matter of personal purity; it is rooted in a strong belief in animal rights and rejection of the exploitation of animals.[80] Some hold that veganism is "true straight edge", and their promotion of veganism and animal liberation has been described as evangelistic.[81]