Straight Edge
“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.”- Minor Threat
For more than three decades, straight edge has ebbed and flowed through the hardcore scene. The articles in this section span twenty years’ worth of ideas, feelings, and thoughts about straight edge from a female perspective.
Some of these articles were written by girls who are now women (myself included). Our thoughts were raw and unfiltered as teens. We were (and some of still are) frustrated with the status quo. We are tired of having our voices drowned out.
As we have grown and evolved, so have our ideas about what it means to be straight edge. These are our stories, our thoughts, our journeys.
A Prescription for Judgment
Priorities of abstinence may differ for each of us. There are those that believe vegetarian/vegan diets should be a staple of an edge lifestyle, while others feel promiscuous sex need not be a part ...
Supporting Young People in the sXe Community
I had just gotten three x’s tattooed on my back. I started calling myself straight edge at 16, I got the idea to get a tattoo at 19. I was less than pleased that my commitment was being treated as a...
Raising Kids in a Not so Straight Edge World
Bundled up in handmade hats and mittens we met up with another family at our town’s tree lighting. My middle school daughter ran arm in arm with her girlfriend giggling and talking about the future. I...
STRAIGHT EDGE AND CELEBRATING
Nothing is more isolating then hearing the awkward silence that follows opening a gift at a Yankee swap and seeing that it’s wine. There are the initial crickets, then a hurried apology, someone offer...
Straight Edge for Life
I’ve been Straight Edge for literally forever. Well, I like to be honest. In high school, I had 1 sip of vodka by itself and another sip mixed with root beer (I don’t even like root beer) in my friend...
Sober Friendship
I knew getting sober would change my life, but I didn’t know my friends would act like it changed theirs, too. The longer I’ve been a part of the Straight Edge lifestyle, the more confident I’ve becom...
Self-Love, Sobriety and Straight-Edge
During my second year of graduate school for Sociology & Social Justice, I took Quantitative Analysis with a professor, who insisted we call him “Rich.” Rich was not only a great professor but awesome...
Bringing Back xsisterhoodx!
It was the summer of 1994. My mom, a nurse at a neighboring high school had me tag along to help with the athletic physicals. My job was to ensure that the students had filled out their forms correct...
From Sobriety to Straight Edge
I first heard of Straight Edge in my mid-teens when a friend of mine, chatting on ICQ told me he was ‘sXe.’. Living in Hong Kong I figured this was a sect of Buddhism I’d not heard of before - Tao, Ze...