Straight edge is a subculture and subgenre of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs. It was a direct reaction to the sexual revolution, hedonism, and excess associated with punk rock. For some, this extends to not engaging in promiscuous sex, following a vegetarian or vegan diet, and not using caffeine or prescription drugs. The term was adopted from the song "Straight Edge" by the 1980s hardcore punk band Minor Threat.
Straight edge emerged amid the mid-'80s hardcore punk scene, in part as a reaction against the perceived "jock" element of the developing scene. Since then a wide variety of beliefs and ideas have been incorporated into the movement, including vegetarianism, animal rights, communism and Hare Krishna beliefs. In many parts of the United States, straight edge is treated as a gang by law enforcement officials. A 2006 study suggested that the vast majority of people who identify as straight edge are nonviolent.
Famous quotes containing the words straight and/or edge:
“The rose and poppy are her flowers; for where
Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
Lo! as that youth’s eyes burned at thine, so went
Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
And round his heart one strangling golden hair.”
—Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882)
“As I came to the edge of the woods,
Thrush music—hark!
Now if it was dusk outside,
Inside it was dark.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)