Straight Edge

[qwertyMike]

I also posted this in the Lounge:

For you young DU-ers
I asked my son (19) if he drank or did dope and he replied "No I am Straight Edge" as if I should know what this means. His sister (21) agreed. He held out his wrist and had a black "X" on the back of his hand. Not a tattoo, magic marker. I've noticed his friends have X's on the back of their hands some tattooed.
Save me a Google and explain to this old Dad. (62)

Thanks
Mike

[Horse with no Name]

1. wiki is your friend

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

[TomInTib]

4. Then what the hell do they do for fun?

Life without sex, drugs, and alcohol?

Just take me out back and shoot me.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Cold hip baths and mild farina.

Or the equivalent.

[TomInTib]

9. Maybe if the music is turned way up...

I prefer a hot a**, some Humboldt Purple, and a really fine Cabernet.

But, then, that's just me.

Tom

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. I don't need abstinence or teetotalling to know how to have fun.

But seriously, the more I think about this the more fascist it sounds.

[TomInTib]

12. I agree, totally.

Just a slicker "Reefer Madness".

[Horse with no Name]

6. I agree!

Rock and Roll just ain't enough by itself.:shrug:

[qwertyMike]

21. It is n/t

[qwertyMike]

18. Trust me

My son has fun. He's in 3 bands. Tours all over the USA and Canada and he's off to Europe next summer FREE spending all his time with his Straight Edge friends.

Girls everywhere - all xSEx (Straight Edge).

I was an alcoholic and believe me there's no fun in Drugs or Booze unless your like 14 or 15 - which I hope you aren't.
I'm proud of him - when he has a free minute to see me :)

He's just completed a prestigious 1st yr University course here in Halifax Nova Scotia only offered by 4 or 5 univerisies in the world - by invitation. 2 of them are Oxford/Cambridge. I believe NONE of them are in the USA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_King's_College

http://www.canadian-universities.net/Universities/University-of-Kings-College.html







Looks like fun to me.





IrishMike

[RevolutionStartsNow]

26. Right on, Mike

As I said downthread, my daughter is into this too, and she has TONS of fun. I've had other people ask me if I thought she'd regret it or go crazy when she gets into college, but she's not repressed at all, she has a great time, goes to music shows every weekend. She just doesn't drink or get high. And she still has fun. Go figure, it's possible.

[qwertyMike]

29. Great

We are lucky - unfortunately I took the so-called FUN path
:(

But we're together now with his sister (drinks like a fish but kind and loving)

Life is great.

Mike

[Subdivisions]

50. You've obviously done a great job as your son's

father, Mike! =)

BTW, he has your nose.

[qwertyMike]

104. My nose?

Where'd you see my nose?
I been looking for it.

Along with the remote, my glasses and teeth.

[driver8]

57. Mike, you should be very proud.

Your son looks (and sounds) like he is quite a remarkable young man.

A lot of this has to do with how he was raised!

Hey -- hanging out with Straight Edge chicks sounds like fun!! (But we all know that the guys in bands get all the chicks...no matter what!)

[stevedeshazer]

102. There is NOTHING more fun than playing on stage

Been there.

Good for him.

See my post downthread.

[ColbertWatcher]

38. If wiki doesn't have it, urban dictionary will...

...http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=straight+edge

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. You're lucky

Your kid's doing all right.

http://www.straightedge.com/whatissxe.html

[qwertyMike]

22. Yup

He's going to be a 'person of substance' - Almost Famous

[ret5hd]

3. Kinda the "fundies" of the "no-dope-for-me" people...

extremists of any religious/lifestyle group bother me.

[qwertyMike]

25. He's not a Fundie, or Religious

He describes himself as an Anarchist (which he is)

No social insurance number - works for cash, pays no taxes, gets laid about once a week, writes all the 3 bands music.

You gotta meet him.

He went with me on the march 5 years ago before you guys invaded Iraq. It minus 25 (Celsius) here in Canada. He was 14.
Where were you guys that day in Feb BEFORE the invasion?

Where are you today?

Hit the streets.

I did my bit in 1968

HippieMike

[Runcible Spoon]

63. yawn he will grow out of it.

personally I don't see much difference between recreational drugs and promiscuity in terms of benefit risk analysis.

[ghostsofgiants]

87. I think it is condescending to assume that it is some sort of immaturity.

And I also think your talk of benefit risk analysis shows a slight ignorance of some of the motivations of being straight edge.

[yardwork]

74. Their not extremists. They have a very tolerant approach to others.

[timtom]

83. You know what amazes me?

The little twerp made a life decision that is different from yours!

What could he have been thinking?

I'm gonna find out if he said any disparaging things about your choices.

[ghostsofgiants]

88. You know what amazes me?

On average, drinkers/drug users have been far more intolerant of me (and others) being straight edge, than I (or any other straight edge person that I know) have been of them for having their drug(s) of choice, yet people like that insist on calling US the fundies. Projection, much?

[timtom]

89. Wait! Who are you responding to?

My post was sarcastic and addressed to someone who accused Straight Edge as being essentially fundie religious.

Unless, of course, you were responding to the same insane post and, thus, backing me up.

[ghostsofgiants]

90. I wa backing you up.

I was responding to you, but in reference to the person you were responding too, haha.

[timtom]

92. Excellent!

Thanks.

[JerseygirlCT]

116. That's not what I've seen

More like "hey man, that's not for me, so don't hassle me, because that would be really stupid, ok?"

[kywildcat]

7. Funny thing-my son is 19 and is Straight Edge too.

He isn't religious at all. He had a close friend in grade school who had the stipulation that they couldn't be friends unless my son went to church with him. My son gave it a try fora few years and bailed in high school-but he bailed on all religions. Now he's straight edge, and has XXX tattooed on his arm :-(
Straight Edge isn't such a bad thing. No drinking, no drugs, no smoking, and no promscious sex.

[qwertyMike]

20. Where does religion come in?

My son hates religion and says he doesn't know if he believes in God (I do) but I too hate religion.
I should read more posts and Wiki Stra9ight Edge.

You should see some kids around here - dope heads, crack heads. zombies, half dead, apathetic.

Remind me of those Texas mormon women.

[kywildcat]

42. a couple of the SXer's I know are religious

but most of my son's friends avoid anything religious. I am not religious in fact I am completely turned off by religion. The extreme religions produce the same zombies you mention in your post (imho). I'm glad that my son has chosen to not medicate himself, or find escapism in drugs or religion.
on the tattoo-my son has XXX tattooed on his arm. I'm 43. My first thought when I saw it was'ok...so now your the John Holmes of the tristate?'. He had to explain to me what xxx was.

[yardwork]

75. My Straight Edge son has identified as Atheist since he was in the First Grade.

I'm not sure where he got the idea - nobody in our family is Atheist, but none of us are church-goers, either.

I'm very happy that he's Straight Edge. He looks scary - almost six feet tall, wears nothing but black, crewcut, big chain holding his wallet to his belt, combat boots - but he's made a personal vow not to take drugs, drink, or have promiscuous sex. This is exactly what I want my 14 year old not to do! Meanwhile, he's happy listening to punk and scaring suburbanites.

[kywildcat]

95. LOL-I know exactly what you mean-

my son likes to rattle people and tell them that Jesus was a myth. He's 6'4" size 14 shoe and still growing....and gentle as a lamb-he isn't one to get involved in a rumble.
Good for you and your smart, healthy 14 year old!

[beezlebum]

8. .

[devilgrrl]

11. Straight Edge, proof that one doesn't need alcohol or drugs to be a violent thug

That's what I think when I see that term thrown about.

:popcorn:

[Tunkamerica]

13. I'm not straightedge but i did listen to minor threat (who

coined the term)when i was younger. You have the wrong idea. Or maybe its changed but the straightedge movement started as a reaction to the meatheads that were running the punk scene in the early days.

[nomorenomore08]

15. Yeah, but some of those meatheads (e.g. Lee Ving from Fear) made really fucking cool music.

nt

[Tunkamerica]

17. and some are "reformed" like Henry Rollins

read some of the accounts of him from back then and you'd want to distance yourself from that scene, too.

[ghostsofgiants]

34. Ian MacKaye was anything but a meathead.

Shit, In his Fugazi days he would stop playing and yell at the crowd if they got violent.

[JerseygirlCT]

118. Yes.

My teen loves Minor Threat. Better educated about the birth of punk in the US than his old mom, lol. I've seen nothing violent in this. More like self-confidence - enough to say no to stupid choices others might make or attempt to foist on them.

[readmoreoften]

37. Whatever. If I had a kid I'd be proud as hell if he was straight edge.

You're a drug dealer or a rapist or a gay basher? I'm pretty fucking okay with straight edge guys kicking your ass. I've never seen a straight edge in a fight that didn't need to be fought.

But, hey, sometimes folks are too high to remember why that straight edge got into that there fight they saw with that there fella....

:hi:

:popcorn:

[devilgrrl]

56. I'd be proud of Andy Maunch, charged for murdering someone who isn't like him....

"You disrespect someone about being Straight Edge, about being whatever—I mean, if someone disrespects someone about their religion, I mean, that's being disrespectful you, fight them. They die, that's what they deserve."

That's certainly something to be proud of... :hi:

[slampoet]

60. Violence is against the Straight Edge code.

This Andy Maunch that you mention without a link or details is a POSER, not a Straight.


The same would be said of a Christian who murdered.

[Runcible Spoon]

64. LOL you're kidding right

first of all, there is no ONE WAY to live "straight edge" just a bunch of dominating philosophies and themes. Second of all, violence is condoned to protect life and property to (the vast majority)these people, and I can ASSURE you that many of them can twist that around to make it so yuppy scum are direct threats to them.

"The same would be said of a Christian who murdered." Well considering the history of blood religion in general has on the hands, I guess it's safe to say that the vast majority of Christians in history are guilty of or complicit of murder. So they are all posers? I guess there might be a handful of the pure according to you but that logic still says that of the thousands of straight edge kids running around causing general mayhem, there are maybe ONE OR TWO who are "authentic"?! Boggles the mind really.

I have known many straight edgers, at least the "real ones" in the 1990's not these cream puff Hot Topic kids of today (and ice cream was only a nickle! lol) and I assure you they were, if nothing else, pretty fucking violent.

[slampoet]

69. Thousands of kids causing mayhem?

That is pulled straight out of your ass and you know it.


The 1990's was not the time when Straight Edge was born.

It was born in the early 1980's or at least that is what Ian MacKaye told me when i interviewed him.



Get some sources.

[Runcible Spoon]

72. sigh.

early-mid 1990's was the height of the scene and you know it. But grats on your pathetic brush with fame :eyes:

[yardwork]

77. No, the height of the scene was early 1980s - I was around then.

Early to mid-90s - one of the many reprises.

[slampoet]

107. Farce, it is called a source.

They are necessary to journalism. Something that you also don't see to know anything about.


Maybe you should actually read a book about Hardcore. Since you seem to know very little about it.



Frankly you are coming off like the kids i meet who think Chuck Berry invented the electric guitar and that Russel Simmons invented Slam Poetry. I'm not explaining a brush with fame. I am recounting what i know from actually being part of the scene. You would have stories like this too if you were there.

[yardwork]

76. Straight Edge has been around since the early 1980s, not the 1990s.

My son doesn't approve of violence. I've been to some punk concerts with him, and the one time a fight broke out, everybody else jumped in to stop it.

[JerseygirlCT]

117. Wow. Violent would be the absolute last word

used to describe the kids I know who subscribe to this.

[nomorenomore08]

14. I hope these kids don't regret it later on. They might feel as if they missed out on their youth.

I say this being basically a kid myself (23), who's done his fair share (or maybe more) of drinking/smoking/tripping/pill-popping and doesn't regret any of it. Different strokes for different folks, of course, but later in life might be too late for certain kinds of "fun."

Hell, I think even Ian MacKaye, the guy who (unintentionally) started the whole movement, gave up the straight-edge thing after a while.

[yardwork]

78. I don't think that my fourteen year old son will regret not taking drugs, drinking, or having sex.

[JerseygirlCT]

119. I don't think it's a problem

Plenty of time to be stupid later, lol.

There is lots to enjoy in life without chemical enhancement or promiscuous sex.

[iamthebandfanman]

16. not in all cases, BUT

ive noticed sXe people tend to be a lil more violent.
go to any sXe bands concert n ull more than likely witness it.

so they get their kicks off other highs. good for them.

tho ive found most sXe are hypocrits and continue to drink soda and eat foods high in sugar and caffine(a drug).

[ghostsofgiants]

35. How is that hypocritical? Straight edge isn't a strict ethos.

The only universally agreed upon tenets are no alcohol, tobacco or "recreational" drugs (drugs that are taken for the purpose of intoxication). It's not a set of rules, and it varies from individual to individual.

[iamthebandfanman]

85. caffine isnt a recreational drug?

what benefit does it have that doesnt include bad things?

[ghostsofgiants]

86. Here's how I look at it...

If you're drinking beer, it's usually because it contains alcohol. I drink tea. Tea contains caffeine, but I don't drink tea BECAUSE it has caffeine. I don't go out and buy tea because I want a caffeinated beverage.

As for benefits though, caffeine does help the absorption of things like Tylenol, so it's great if you have a headache.

[yewberry]

19. I'd like to dissent a bit.

I think people are being somewhat unfair. There are a lot of reasons for people to be drawn to straightedge, and to say sweeping or judgmental things about a group of people isn't reasonable.

Just like in any group, there are going to jerks, geniuses, hypocrites, and stars. Every group has its extremists, and these tend to be the most visible and so the people we base our opinions on. That doesn't mean that they're representative of all of the group.

You know your son. Be happy he's found something that he thinks is meaningful or worth doing while he lives his life.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

23. My daughter is sort of into this...

It was cool last year to call yourself Straight Edge and not drink smoke or do drugs. They drew X's on their hands, all that. There was no violence among this group, though I know that's part of it in some areas.

Now most of those kids are getting high; my daughter still doesn't, but she doesn't like to label herself "straight edge" either, or make a big deal out of it. It's just her personal choice.

She's very into Minor Threat though recently, so I think that's bringing the concept back again.

Personally I don't get it, I was wasted through most of my teenage years, but as a parent I couldn't be happier that my daughter has chosen not to do that. There's an addictive gene in my family, for sure, and I'd rather not have her suffer what I did before I got clean. And overall I think she's happier and gets in less trouble.

As long as they stay away from the violent part of this movement, it's all good.

(Though I agree with another poster that some of these kids are hypocrites or don't really get it because they still eat a lot of junk and drink a lot of caffeine.)

[qwertyMike]

30. My son

Drinks only water and has lots of sex/girlfriends

[RevolutionStartsNow]

31. ha ha, he must be happy!

Seriously, he sounds like a great and happy kid.

I was talking to my daughter about this the other day and she said she really is content in her life, how rare is that at 16? So she knows that drinking/drugs would only make it worse, not better. I'm so lucky.

Her boyfriend is Straight Edge, too. Lots of kids they hang with aren't, there's no problem mixing with the stoner/drinking kids, it's just a choice and they all seem to respect one another for the most part.

I'm all for it, to have her avoid the sketchy situations I was in. I had a lot of fun too, but I don't see her missing out on anything, she has a very active social life.

[girl gone mad]

40. having lots of..

sex isn't part of the straight edge ethos.

Personally, I think treating girls like tissues is a lot worse than drinking or doing drugs.

When I was young, the straight edgers were an irritating aspect of the punk scene. They looked down their noses at anyone who drank or smoked, even in moderation, yet many of them were always looking to start fights. Violence and self-importance were their drugs. I hope things have changed. I'd probably die id my son told me he was a straight-edger. It would be almost as bad as if he became a religious fundamentalist.

[Runcible Spoon]

66. right on GGM

sounds like the edgers i knew back in the mid 1990's when the scene was at it's height.

[Runcible Spoon]

65. disgusting.

he can have a pure liver and rotted genitals. If he was having lots of sex with ONE girl I would say go him. :eyes:

[Serenades]

24. jkljkljljkljkj

I'm into a lot of straightedge bands like Throwdown! Awesome. Not sure what's so wrong about not wanting to drink and do drugs.

[malexander777]

27. good for him

Too many kids are into drugs these days. THat is so great that your kids took a higher path. You should be proud because you must have done something right!

[Dorian Gray]

28. Straight Edge

was around in the 80s, back when I was in high school. It was often associated with some really heavy metal bands. Some of the people who were straight edge looked like skin heads, but I don't believe that they were involved in skin head movements.

[Jamastiene]

44. Not all skinheads are racists either.

I have never heard of any metal music connection with the straight edge movement. Every Straight Edge punk rocker I've ever known has been very anti-Nazi/anti-racist and yes some Straight Edgers are skinheads, but they are SHARP skinheads which means no racism allowed.

Geraldo and other media misrepresentations made most people believe ALL skinheads were violent neo-Nazis when that's just not the case. The SHARP punks are some of the best people you'd ever want to know, or at least they were some of my best friends. They never were into that Nazi crap like the boneheads on Geraldo. There is a difference between real skins and boneheads.

[slampoet]

59. One of my favorite songs is "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" by the Dead Kennedys

"Nazi Punks Fuck Off"

Punk ain't no religious cult
Punk means thinking for yourself
You ain't hardcore cos you spike your hair
When a jock still lives inside your head

Nazi punks
Nazi punks
Nazi punks-Fuck Off!

Nazi punks
Nazi punks
Nazi punks-Fuck Off!

If you've come to fight, get outa here
You ain't no better than the bouncers
We ain't trying to be police
When you ape the cops it ain't anarchy



Ten guys jump one, what a man
You fight each other, the police state wins
Stab your backs when you trash our halls
Trash a bank if you've got real balls

You still think swastikas look cool
The real nazis run your schools
They're coaches, businessmen and cops
In a real fourth reich you'll be the first to go



You'll be the first to go
You'll be the first to go
You'll be the first to go
Unless you think




---I love the "Unless you think". it shows anyone can change for the better.-----

[Arctic Dave]

103. Skinheads took to the straight edge movement because of

Minor Threats song "Guilty of being white" which by the way had nothing to do with white supremacy. But most nazi are idiots, look at who is in the white house.

[yardwork]

79. Not heavy metal. Punk.

[Dorian Gray]

94. Was Minor Threat Punk?

I always considered them Metal, but I didn't listen to that music back then.

[yardwork]

98. No, definitely Punk.

My son says that Minor Threat (who happen to be his favorite band) were one of the first bands in the Hardcore Punk movement that started in the early 80's.

[Withywindle]

32. It's been around a long time.

DC punk scene from the early 80s, Minor Threat. (Great band. Ian MacKaye started Fugazi later).

I never was but had friends who were. basically it started as a reaction against seeing too many people completely destroy their lives with drugs and alcohol. It was tied to aggressive punk sound too - there was something of the ascetic athlete mentality to it: you could devote yourself to your music better if you didn't do drugs. Some people took it to a weird extreme - no sex, for some, and since most of the scene was male, there was a misogynistic undercurrent to it. Sounds like your son is too smart for that part, though!

Seems to have mellowed a lot. Straight edge and non-straight-edge used to look down on each other and it could get pretty hostile.

Your son sounds like a great kid - I don't think anyone so busy with his music can be said to be missing out on life!

[HughBeaumont]

33. Aside from the odd Red Bull, that's what I've been into for 20 years now.

I didn't like drinking beer, and missed out on the whole microbrewery/ale/foreign beer thing; I was mostly a gin and wine guy. I stopped drinking 6 months before my 20th birthday and haven't touched a drop since. Alcohol just isn't me. I'm a hyper goofy bastard, and "mellow/slow-burning/violent bar guy" ain't my style. I never did smokeable anything because of my grandmother not making it to her 50th birthday thanks to cigarettes.

I'm not even messing with drugs, as I've been around people most of that time period who still show the effects from too much gas huffing, acid dropping, coke-snorting, isopropanol w/grape soda-drinking, pill popping and more bong hits than the average human should ingest. Again, that's not me.

I don't see what the big deal is with learning from other people's mistakes instead of making them on your own. I didn't "miss out" on any experience; I had fun just the same. The difference is, I remembered all of it.

That's not to say I want to be lumped in with the Straight Edgers, though. While many of the kids into the scene are well meaning and cool to hang out with (despite others easily dismissing ALL of them as militant), there are some who take it further (I'm not even a vegan and occasionally drink Red Bull) and there are also a lotta fakes who just want to be part of something. You are who you are, though, and it's a part of me to this day. I don't push beliefs on anyone. I just find it funny that there are people who still can't conceptualize the idea of having fun without being on something.

[asthmaticeog]

43. Isopropynol with grape soda? Is that for real?

:wtf:

OK, I took all kinds of shit I clearly shouldn't have, but THAT'S messed up.

[NuttyFluffers]

47. it's incredibly dangerous for next to no benefit

could easily kill yourself, as many a severe alcoholic has thinking rubbing alcohol could substitute ethyl alcohol.

there's just much better highs out there. (and no, i don't think "high on life" hokum is one of them. there really are better things out there.)

[HughBeaumont]

48. Serious as a heart attack.

That would be my fourth cousin who used to do that. I grew up with some reallllllllllllly bored people in Vermilion/Erie County. In cities like that, there's really nothing to do other than get drunk and experiment with things that could put holes in your stomach walls and/or poison you . . . like rubbing alcohol and grape soda.

But I suppose if you smoked as much weed and huffed as much inhalants and gasoline (again . . . what the hell???) as these wonders of chemistry did, that's probably a mere cocktail.

[asthmaticeog]

51. Never was much of a huffer, myself...

Then again, I was close to the city so real drugs weren't even slightly a problem to get. That said, some of the things people will do to chase an altered state freakin' terrify me sometimes. Reminds me of that Big Black song about bored kids drinking kerosene. Fuck. That.

[NuttyFluffers]

110. the rankest thing i heard of was huffing human waste

apparently in dar-e-salaam and other african slums there are street children so poor that the only way to get high and take a break from the misery of slum life is to defecate and urinate in a plastic bag, hold it for days/weeks, and then huff the methane and ammonia afterwards. life's got to be pretty damn bad before i go that route. but y'know, with enough pain you can get just about anybody desperate enough to take any sort of escape.

[asthmaticeog]

112. That's a hoax, it's been widely debunked.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/jenkem.asp

[NuttyFluffers]

113. uh, i never said anything about Americans doing it. you read hoax where there is none

snopes do cite one of the articles that i came across discussing Jenkem. so unless the BBC or IPS (or National Geographic, where I also came across it) is making up stories, that's pretty much what we have to go with.

take your hoax accusations elsewhere...

[B2G]

114. It's still a hoax. n/t

[readmoreoften]

36. *Grew up with straight edges. Straight edge is a good thing. Here's some info for ya*

Straight edge is a punk and non-racist skinhead movement that took off largely in the 1980s. Straight edges are militant in their "anti-social" iconoclastic beliefs which are (basically) the following:

1) There is nothing more lame and socially conformist than using drugs and alcohol. Drugs and alcohol are tools of the state to keep people stupid and unable to fight back. There is nothing authoritarian fascists want more than to see bright and rebellious people made malleable through intoxicants.

2) Women are not objects to be used for sport. You don't fuck if you're not in a relationship and you don't get into a relationship unless you're sincere. Misogynistic guy-talk is for the insecure and the weak.

3) Racism, by extension, is a total crock of shit for weaklings.

4) It's okay to be pissed off at the world and fight for what's right as long as you're true to yourself.

Note: Straight-edge guys are probably the best people around. I'm female and 37 and to this day my good male friends are old-school straight-edge punks. You should be proud. He's probably a really good kid.

[Jamastiene]

45. I agree with your post.

It's probably the most accurate summation of what it's all about that I've see yet in either thread. :thumbsup:

[driver8]

58. Right on! Great post...very informative. n/t

[yardwork]

80. That sounds exactly like what my straight edge son believes.

Also, straight edgers are generally not homophobic.

[and-justice-for-all]

39. Yeah, Staight Edge is equvilant to a gang...

If there are Straight Edgers at a show (Concert) where people are drinking and doing things that the Straight Edgers do not approve of, they beat their ass.

they don't do drugs or drink, they prefer violence and ruining everybody else fun.

[NuttyFluffers]

49. sadly that's been a portion of my experience as well

some xSEx are decent to hang out with, as long as they aren't preachy and can chill. then there's the self-righteous, violent, killjoy fucks out there who are better off being escorted out by the bouncers. and really, there's much better punk shows that don't attract that sort of teeny bop drama. proselytizing ideologues get old fast. (and Black Flag was and is more fun w/o Henry Rollins; yeah, heresy to proto-punks, but there's only so much soapbox i can take.)

[and-justice-for-all]

100. Henery Rollins is Black Flag...and his show is great...nt

[NuttyFluffers]

109. the rest of the band mates of Black Flag would disagree

Ginn once stated that after Rollins joined, "We couldn't do songs with a sense of humor anymore; he got into the serious way-out poet thing."<7>

<7> Song review - TV Party. Allmusic. Retrieved on May 27, 2006.

Rollins isn't the beginning and end of Black Flag. heard the rest of the band kick it on a radio show years ago (around 2002-2003? memory fades...) for their small reunion w/o Rollins. the music they were playing was far more fun and playful and i liked it a lot more. closer to Shonen Knife madness and playfulness.

not to say Rollins isn't entertaining. it's just he's... different, a bit too serious.

[and-justice-for-all]

111. I love Rollins, I think he is also rather sexy too..LOL

[slampoet]

55. I have never seen that happen and I've been to a lot of Hardcore shows.

I always hear people repeating the urban myth of violent straight edge.


The fact is that if they are violent they aren't straight edge.


THEY ARE POSERS.

[yardwork]

81. I think that was the very beginning of their movement, but now they're mostly non-violent.

[and-justice-for-all]

99. I hope that is so....nt

[El Pinko]

41. Seems like there's nothing wrong with it to me.

I have noticed that some streight edge kids are also fundie, which is sad, but bsically, I see nothing wrong with it, especially if a young person chooses it because he or she knows that he or she won't be able to do alcohol or drugs in moderation.

I experimented with alcohol and drugs like most teens, but never really went overboard with it. I really won't freak if my kids do the same. I want them to learn their limits and respect them, not to engage in excess, binge-drinking, etc. because it's "forbidden" (appealing). I hardly ever even have a beer now. I don't regret experimenting as a youth, but obviously there are some people who are very prone to addiction. Straight edge seems like a good route for them.

[Jamastiene]

46. Do your son's bands have myspace pages?

I would be interested in adding his bands to my friends list. I have always liked the straight edge punk rockers too.

[Ms. Toad]

52. Now here's a radical thought,

Why not ask your son what it means to him?

I know you got lots of answers here about what various dictionaries/wikis say it means - and a few personal stories. It may mean something very different to your son (or not), but it would be a good opportunity for a conversation. (I have a teenage daughter - talk is good.)

[Jamastiene]

61. That's actually the best bet and the best idea of them all so far.

:thumbsup:

[Snarkturian Clone]

53. Just a phase.

One of my friends was WAAAAAY into straight edge for awhile, had multiple tattoos describing it... then became a huge boozer, making his tattoos look really stupid.

My old college roomate was straight edge, had the shaved head etc. for 2 years then gave it all up in a heap of drunkenness.

I say it's just a phase because no one wants to be the old guy at the concert. Just be happy he's not into Krishna-core.

[slampoet]

54. Straight Edge was summed up in the lyrics of OUT OF STEP by Minor Threat.

(I) Don't smoke,
(I) Don't drink,
(I) Don't fuck,
At least I can fucking think.

[Runcible Spoon]

62. is he vegetarian and hare krishna?

that was the vogue in straight edge culture in the 1990's when my sister was engaged to a straigt edge guy. Personally he was obnoxious. I guess it's fine to want to not do drugs and alcohol to pursue a more pure and authentic life, but listening to that HORRIBLE NOISE music and wearing ugly ass clothes didn't make me take the scene very seriously. Most people in that scene had a shelf life of 3-4 years before they moved on to something else or just did the whole get a job and have a family kind of thing. :shrug:

[Codeine]

67. The Krishna-core fucks were assholes.

All the straightedge kids I grew up with were really mellow and nice. We were punks without all the weaknesses.

[Snarkturian Clone]

68. I remember the krishna-core ppl. They were a pain in the ass NT

[Forkboy]

70. My experience with them in the punk scene was pretty much all bad.

I respect the concept, but back then they were so militant about it that they were basically a bunch of thugs who thought kicking in someone's head was ok in lieu of smoking weed. Misguided morals, to say the least. I hope in your son's case he doesn't take it that far.

[yardwork]

84. I think that the violence part was eliminated over the years.

At least, that's been my observation at the punk shows I've gone to with my straight edge son. They don't approve of violence.

[devilgrrl]

91. If only they didn't approve of sanctimony, then I'd feel more comfortable with them.

I bet Keith Richards will out live all of you.

[yardwork]

96. I'm not straightedge. I'm a recovering alky. I went straight under duress.

I assure you that my fourteen year old son is the least sanctimonious person you would care to meet.

[Forkboy]

93. That's cool.

Like I said, I can respect the concept (even though I don't agree), so if the violence gets taken out of the equation there's not a damn thing wrong with them making that lifestyle choice. :thumbsup:

[yardwork]

97. That's what I think, too.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

71. My experience with them in the local scene has been all good

In fact, I credit that scene for helping my daughter stick to her personal commitment to not drink or use drugs; the Straight Edge punkers at the shows she goes to gave her a way to feel part of something (very important to a teenager) while staying sober and having a lot of fun. They put the X's on their hands, it makes them feel cool -- and my 12 year old son is now starting to take notice, he wants to do whatever his sister is doing, which is great.

This may be a totally different scene than in other places, and I've heard about violent Straight Edgers, but locally these kids are very cool, very mellow, and just choose not to drink, smoke or use drugs, or have promiscuous sex. What more could a parent of a teenage girl ask for?

There also doesn't seem to be any division between the Straight Edge kids and the not-Straight Edge kids. They all mix together, bonded by the music.

[yardwork]

73. My 14 year old son is heavily into Straight Edge.

Apparently, Sunday (4/20) is known in some circles as "pot smokers' day." Straight Edge folks put the X's on the back of their hands to show that they won't be partaking.

[qwertyMike]

105. 4/20

Is also Hitler's B/day and clocks are set at 4:20 in many indie flicks

[shanti]

82. this was on teevee recently

can't exactly remember what channel, but it was an hour long show about the history of the straight edge culture. check it out. sure, they are clean and sober, but there's a negative side to it too.

i'm not young, but i do have a teen son;)

[LeftyMom]

108. That thing was the most dishonest "documentary" I've seen in a long time.

I'm not sxe (hell, I was drinking a beer while I watched the thing) but I was pretty damned offended by how dishonest and scaremongering it was.

The thing was, the only two problems they could point to (in Boston and Salt Lake) were both quite some time ago, and in making the case for edgers as being an especially violent or problematic subculture, they never compared rates at which they get in trouble to other groups of mostly teenage boys or to their age cohort generally.

[stevedeshazer]

101. I've been a punk since 1977, and I respect the straightedgers

I'm 53. This is nothing new.

Sure, I drank and smoked dope back then. Sometimes I still do.

But my kids are in their 20s and choose not to.

They are every bit as politically aware and savvy as me, probably even more so without the experience.

My daughter is 28 and my son is 20. They are amazing young people.

If anyone doubts my cred as an old school punk, see this from 10/29/79.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Viw5W5OODkQ

[MrSlayer]

106. I always hated straightedgers,

Such sanctimonious and obnoxious people. At least they were when I was a kid, I hope they've changed a bit.

[JerseygirlCT]

115. Mine too

From what he tells me, it's just that: no drugs, no drinking, no smoking, no sex. And this seems a way to fight what seemed to be the inevitable social pressure to do some or all of that in HS. Straight edge kids can say they belong to something, some social set, and it's cool.