When someone labels him or herself straight edge, it usually means that they do not drink, smoke cigarettes, use drugs or have promiscuous sex. While these rules may change from group to group (some people believe you must be a vegetarian or vegan, abstain from caffeine and live medication-free to be truly straight edge), the term is most often used with pride.
The first use of the term appeared during the turn of the 20th century and referred to eating habits. As early as 1900, there was a restaurant that served only health food called the "Straight-Edge Kitchen." There was also a comic from that period depicting several men, dubbed "Straight-Edgers," having a vegetarian meal. But the term, used as we know it today, didn't take off until the early 1980s, when the punk scene began to embrace the concept of a healthy lifestyle.
When some punks became fed up with the self-destructive behavior they usually saw within the punk lifestyle, straight edge began. They continued to go to the shows and listen to the music, but decided to abstain from smoking, drinking, doing drugs and participating in casual sex. Many wore X's on their hands to show their dedication to the clean lifestyle. The X's were originally a sign that the wearer was too young to drink, but straight edgers of all ages wore the X's voluntarily as a symbol of the choices they were making.
Minor Threat--one of the first bands to promote this clean punk lifestyle--wrote a song called "Straight Edge" in 1980. An excerpt of the lyrics: "I'm a person just like you/ But I've got better things to do/ Than sit around and fuck my head/ Hang out with the living dead/ Snort white shit 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."
Today, the straight edge lifestyle is vibrant and full of many different types of people--punks or not. However, not everyone in the movement has been so open-minded to those who choose to live differently. Considering what a personal thing being straight edge is, it's surprising how often it's associated with violence.
In Utah during the 1990s, several people claimed that there were straight edge based gangs and that these gangs attacked anyone who wouldn't conform to their lifestyle. The media coverage of these events led many people to form the mistaken opinion that being straight edge was about being violent. Most straight edgers stress that violence is not what they are about. For most, being straight edge is all about personal choice--being who you are and not letting destructive behavior get in the way of a healthy lifestyle.
