Are you straightedge?

[Geometric-sama]

I notice a lot of people surround their names with "x"s, and I want to know - are you actually straightedge? Or is it something you use just to be cool or because you think it looks good?

For those of you who don't know what straightedge is, it's a punk subculture, and also something of a lifestyle choice, I suppose. Usually abbreviated to sXe, the "X" being because straightedgers would draw Xs on their own hands when going to gigs so that they wouldn't be served alcohol - as you may know, "X" is used at all-ages gigs to mark underage people so that they're not allowed to order alcohol. This is also where the "x"s that surround straightedge names come from.

Straightedge (straight-edge, straight edge) came out of the Minor Threat songs "Straight Edge", where Ian McKaye sings:

I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and **** my head
Hang out with the living dead
Snort white **** 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
I've got the straight edge
I've got the straight edge
I've got the straight edge

and "Out Of Step (With The World)":

(I) Don't smoke
Don't drink
Don't ****
At least I can ****ing think

I can't keep up,
Can't keep up
Can't keep up
Out of step with the world

Straightedgers do not drink, smoke or take drugs (although caffeine's often acceptable), and don't "sleep around". While McKaye has disowned the straightedge movement, saying that he never meant his song to be taken as a guide for a completely restrictive lifestyle, there are thousands of people of all ages who have adopted the straightedge philosophy.

*can't be bothered writing any more* Read the sXe FAQ at http://www.faqs.org/faqs/cultures/straight-edge-faq/ if you want to know more.

Anyway, so are you straightedge? I don't consider myself sXe but I do follow the main guidelines (often abbreviated to "don't smoke, don't drink, don't f***" from "Out Of Step" - the no drugs thing is implied) by choice, and I made that decision long before I heard of sXe.

[Lucifer]

I don't smoke, drink or take drugs. But it's got nothing to do with any of that. I just choose not to do it.

[Geometric-sama]

You're like me then - you've chosen the rules for yourself and you don't consider yourself sXe :D

[Forever]

i don't wanna do that bad stuff because it would kill me so yeah

[Kim]

As a sexually active drinker, no, I'm not "sXe." :laugh: So I voted no.

[B-Baller]

I don't smoke, drink or take drugs....but I don't consider myself sXe.

[~Ozy~]

I follow most of the ideals thereof, but I do not consider myself such, or even punk, so... No, I am not straightedge. I'm "Puritanical."

[John Denver]

By these definitions, I'm straight edge....but it also has negative connotations that Straight edge people treat smokers like the KKK treats blacks O_o

[Geometric-sama]

Only the rabid "fundamentalist" straightedgers. A couple of my friends -are- sXe and they're just the same as anyone else except that, like me, they don't drink or smoke.

[Kim]

By these definitions, I'm straight edge....but it also has negative connotations that Straight edge people treat smokers like the KKK treats blacks O_o

Eh, that's cause they haven't experienced things firsthand. While I do agree with drugs (one doesn't need to do drugs to see the effects it has on others), and smoking, IMO, is disgusting and I get infections from second-hand smoke, alcohol and sex are ones that I really don't understand. Morals vary from person to person...and while due to religion, these 2 things can be "bad," but one drink of champagne, or having intercourse with a partner, is not evil. But, someone who has not had experience with these 2 things can't really base an opinion on it. Moderation is okay.

[jasonresno]

It's funny, alot of people don't do those things but aren't sXe. It is just that people are absolutely fascinated with labeling things, thus sXe was born.

I guess I'm sXe to the C0RE!1

[Alex The Great Master]

I don't drink alcohol, take drugs or smoke. That's why I'm so healty. But I'm not sXe.

[Geometric-sama]

It's funny, alot of people don't do those things but aren't sXe. It is just that people are absolutely fascinated with labeling things, thus sXe was born.

I guess I'm sXe to the C0RE!1
No, it's not about a label, it's about a culture. o___o There is a difference between being sXe and simply being anti-drink/drugs/casual sex.

[I Want Your Skull]

I'm not sXe, cause I drink and I smoke...So, yeah, no.

[Steeleon]

I don't drink, smoke, or do/take drugs. But it's not because I am sXe, it's because I myself chose not to do those things because I know what they can do.

[oni flygon]

sXes are an interesting punk subculture and pretty much a subculture that I respect. If they realize their cause, that is. Of all the sXes I've met, I've only met one genuine sXe. Otherwise, the rest can't even explain global warming. =P

[Jack O'Neill]

Though I do abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, I'm not straight-edge. I don't care one way or the other about promiscuity; I also don't adhere to the precepts of some of the more extreme straight-edgers (anarchy, environmentalism, et cetera), with the exception of perhaps socialism.

Even more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge

[Thomas-san]

I don't know what I am. I have smoked and drinked in the past, but don't do it regularly. I have never done drugs or "sleep around". But I am basically a caffine addict. XD So I am whatever that group is called XD

[Kim]

No, it's not about a label, it's about a culture. o___o There is a difference between being sXe and simply being anti-drink/drugs/casual sex.

LOL! No, sorry. There is nothing "Cultured" about a label from a music scene. I think any reference section in any college could probably tell you that. :laugh: I would pay to see what an anthropologist would call "sXe."

If it were in fact a culture, everyone in America would be doing it, and they aren't. I would do more research on cultures if I were you.

[Despain]

I do not, and never will, drink or do drugs. Very wierd saying that, considering I'm a college student. It's EVERYWHERE here.

But I also do not consider myself "straightedge" or any of that punk/emo culture ********. I'm a nerdy kid who will never **** himself up with drugs. That's about it.

[pokejungle]

I'm very much straightedge o_o

And, as Dakota pointed out, I do treat smokers/druggies like the KKK :< I made a huge blog about it citing them for being miserable low-lives ^^"

So yes, if you see me as BlackxxJapan or Shaman xx Fight - I'm not just a poser ;>

I don't dress that punk though. Just my longer hair ;D

[I prefer "xx" over "x"]

[DragonTrainer]

No, it's not about a label, it's about a culture. o___o There is a difference between being sXe and simply being anti-drink/drugs/casual sex.
Can we know the difference? ._.

I use to know someone who was straightedge... but she got caught with pot recently.

[pokejungle]

Can we know the difference? ._.

I use to know someone who was straightedge... but she got caught with pot recently.
That's incredibly disappointing ._____________.

The difference people like to make is the subculture I guess. sXe is a variation of punk. If you're not really "punk" then I guess people think they're not straight edge D:

But that's really not the case~~

[DragonTrainer]

That's incredibly disappointing ._____________.

The difference people like to make is the subculture I guess. sXe is a variation of punk. If you're not really "punk" then I guess people think they're not straight edge D:

But that's really not the case~~
Seems like just another little clique people make for themselves, but I may be wrong.

[pokejungle]

Seems like just another little clique people make for themselves, but I may be wrong.
Life is groups, and groups are life. It's just the way the world works...without one you're just a drifter with a few passing friends.

Labels rule our lives.

[Geometric-sama]

Can we know the difference? ._.

I use to know someone who was straightedge... but she got caught with pot recently.
Yes. sXes are those who are immersed in the punk subculture and have specifically chosen to follow the movement and the things it entails. Others, like me, simply chose not to do those things because they considered them dangerous or... I can't find the word. I decided that I would never drink, do drugs or sleep around long before I started listening to punk music. I'm not actually a punk, either.

I have one friend who is a true straightedge. The rest of his family, including his two younger brothers (aged 17 and 14, I believe) drink heavily, and he decided he wanted to be straightedge and avoid that whole scene. Another friend I believe is straightedge, but he won't tell me. I know he's into a lot of straightedge music, and follows the three "don't"s.

[pokejungle]

Yes. sXes are those who are immersed in the punk subculture and have specifically chosen to follow the movement and the things it entails. Others, like me, simply chose not to do those things because they considered them dangerous or... I can't find the word. I decided that I would never drink, do drugs or sleep around long before I started listening to punk music. I'm not actually a punk, either.

I have one friend who is a true straightedge. The rest of his family, including his two younger brothers (aged 17 and 14, I believe) drink heavily, and he decided he wanted to be straightedge and avoid that whole scene. Another friend I believe is straightedge, but he won't tell me. I know he's into a lot of straightedge music, and follows the three "don't"s.
I am ze punk D:

Punk music rocks my world~ and I dress semi-punkish. I need more bandshirts though. Puuuu.

I'll have to stop at Hot Topic soon.

[Kim]

I do not, and never will, drink or do drugs. Very wierd saying that, considering I'm a college student. It's EVERYWHERE here.

But I also do not consider myself "straightedge" or any of that punk/emo culture ********. I'm a nerdy kid who will never **** himself up with drugs. That's about it.

That's all it really is--a label for people to feel like they belong to something. You can not be sexually active, not drink,and not do drugs, and not be in this psuedo "culture." It's just a name for kids who made something up.

BTW--Check your PM's.

[Scyther5]

I am ze punk D:

Punk music rocks my world~ and I dress semi-punkish. I need more bandshirts though. Puuuu.

I'll have to stop at Hot Topic soon.

Haha I found that quite funny. Hot Topic. Haha.
Yeah, Im not really straight edge, I just don't understand why I would want to be, but yeah thats just me.

[Dashi_sato]

I am ze punk D:

Punk music rocks my world~ and I dress semi-punkish. I need more bandshirts though. Puuuu.

I'll have to stop at Hot Topic soon.
Real Punks dont shop at hot topic. you make your clothes, or buy them used from a local alternative store that's not in the mall and that's not a chain. you get your band shirts from concerts or music stores. If you must know, I am straightedge, and i listen to minor threat. I have tons of straightedge and minor threat patches on everything.

[Careful With That Axe, Pichu!]

What a... fossil.

Make sure to check what year we're livin' in next time!

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