Out of Step
This article was written by Matthew Burgess and was originally published on www.unicafemedia.com
Western youth culture has been heavily influenced by alcohol, illicit drugs and smoking, but it is best described by Joshua Blake, an arts student at the University of Queensland.
“We have created a culture where young people who do not get drunk and party hard on a regular basis are considered abnormal. How do I know this? I’m a 19-year-old who regularly sees my peers getting drunk and viewing it as some sort of rite of passage. I see others my age who consider getting drunk the only means of having fun. I’m up against a social expectation that assumes I regularly partake in binge-drinking events.”
It is the rejection of these mainstream attitudes towards drugs and alcohol which is the cornerstone of straight edge culture.
Straight edge is a counterculture of hardcore punk, which was a direct reaction to the sexual revolution, hedonism, and excess associated with punk rock. Developed out of the Washington D.C. punk and hardcore scene, straight edgers believe in a lifelong commitment to clean, positive living, rejecting a life of drugs, alcohol and promiscuous sex.
Disgusted by the atmosphere of drugs, alcohol and nihilistic attitudes prevalent at punk shows, Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye began promoting a “stay punk, stay clean” philosophy throughout their music; epitomised by their songs Out of Step and Straight Edge.
Even though Minor Threat disbanded in 1983, their music and straight edge philosophy has been internalised, debated, reinterpreted and revered prophetically by straight edge youth so intensely and literally that Ian MacKaye has since disowned the subculture. However, regardless of this apparent abandonment by its founder and pioneer, straight edge continues to expand and evolve to fit its members’ immediate needs.
Straight edge means something different to each person, assuming the identity and, as with any group, individual members’ level of dedication varies. However, while individuals are free to follow the philosophy in various ways, often adding their own interpretations, there is a set of fundamental values that form much of the subculture.
The foundation of the straight edge subculture is positive, clean living. The subculture is fundamentally about undermining the drug scene and creating an alternative, drug-free environment.
Many straight edgers even shun caffeine and medicinal drugs, and the majority are committed vegetarians or vegans. Refusing drugs and alcohol has a variety of meanings for individual straight edgers, including purification, control, and breaking abusive family patterns. Many youth experience peer pressure to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or try illegal drugs; straight edge provides young people with a way to feel more in control of their lives.
Furthermore, straight edgers make a lifetime commitment to positive, clean living; there is no such thing as a weekend straight edger. They treat their abstinence and adoption of the straight edge identity as a sacred vow; to the extent when formerly straight edge individuals begin drinking, smoking, or using drugs, adherents claim they had sold out or lost the edge.
An extension of a positive, clean lifestyle is the reserving of sex for caring relationships. Many straight edgers view casual sex as yet another pitfall of dominant society, their counterparts in other youth subcultures, and their more mainstream peers. Straight edgers also claim that resisting these social standards and expectations allows them to follow their own, more meaningful, path in life, toward greater self-realisation.
However, straight edge resistance transcends members’ simple abstinence. Members of the straight edge subculture often actively encourage other young people to become drug and alcohol free, and undertake a mission to convince their peers that resisting drugs, rather than using them, will help create a better world. Furthermore, straight edgers will often become involved in a variety of progressive social causes. Many view their involvement in social change as a logical progression from clean living that leads them to embrace progressive concerns and become directly involved at some level.
At the heart of straight edge, and many other resistance youth cultures, is a quest for individuality and individual expression. Through clean living, a positive attitude and resistance to social pressures, straight edgers create and express a ‘true’ or ‘authentic’ identity amid a world they feel encourages conformity and mediocrity. They claim resisting social standards and expectations allows them to follow their own, more meaningful path in life towards greater self-realisation.
