Straight Edge and Bottled Violence

Notes for Chapter 3. Straight Edge and Bottled Violence

Theme: The comparison between straight edge’s traditional approach to tolerance and pacifism and the later militant intolerant violence  typified in the Salt Lake City Utah “gang” scene of the late 90’s

Minor Threat’s BOTTLED VIOLENCE lyrics.  1981

“Get your bravery from a six pack. Get your bravery from a half-pint. Drink your whiskey, drink your grain. Bottoms up and you don't feel pain. GO OUT AND FIGHT, FIGHT BOTTLED VIOLENCE”

“Lose control of your body. Beat the shit out of somebody. Half-shut eyes don't see who you hit
But you don't take any shit. GO OUT AND FIGHT, FIGHT BOTTLED VIOLENCE”

Minor Threat’s STRAIGHT EDGE lyrics. 1981

“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.”

“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”

Chapter Outline:

I.       What is straight edge?

1.       Source: Straight Edge: Hardcore Punk, Clean Living Youth, and Social Change.( Ross Haenfler 2006) Selective readings for a class

a. Straight edge is a clean living youth movement that emerged from the punk rock subculture in the early 1980s. .( Ross Haenfler 2006)

b. Its basic tenets promote a drug-free, tobacco-free, and sexually responsible lifestyle-tenets that, on the surface, seem counter to those typical of teenage rebellion. .( Ross Haenfler 2006)

c. For many straight-edge kids, however, being clean and sober was (and still is) the ultimate expression of resistance-resistance to the consumerist and self-indulgent ethos that defines mainstream U.S. culture.( Ross Haenfler 2006)

2.  Source: Bartlett, Thomas (2006-09-29). "Studying Rock’s Clean, Mean Movement".  

    The Chronicle of Higher Education, A16. Selective readings for a class

II.    What is straight edge violence?

1.      Sources: GANG AWRY
The Scotsman, September 3, 1998, Thursday, Pg. 12, 1563 words, Allan Hall

2.      http://www.toefur-straightedge.com/x/straightedgenewsarticles/straightedgeabc2020.php

a.      Straight Edge: Is It a Gang or a Brotherhood?  The Salt Lake Tribune (usa, 31-01-1998) - by kelly kennedy (salt lake city) Selective readings for a class

b.      ABC 20/20 Interview in Straight Edge Now, a lot of you have probably already read this or heard about it. In short, this show gave the world a damning view of the straight edge lifestyle. It makes the Straight Edge life style look like something on the fringe of society; a dark and violent underworld of terrorist types. Straight Edge is not violent! Friday, March 26, 1999

3.      http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4084079 Over the edge, Punk anti-drug group toes violent line in Salt Lake By Michael Riley Denver Post Staff Writer 

III.   Douglas Joshua Ellerman

1.       Sources: http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsB6.htm press release

2.       http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsA7.htm second press release

3.       http://www.interfire.org/res_file/acb_main.asp info on specific case

a.      Douglas Joshua Ellerman is slightly different than Jeffery Lures in that Straight Edge was approximated as the primary political ideology where as ALF was secondary. Jeff “Free” Lures was primarily Earth First/ ELF ascribed.

Culture of Anarchy notes. Sources

Subtitle: Hardcore Punk, Clean Living Youth, and Social Change
Author: Ross Haenfler
Subject: Sociology
Paper ISBN 0-8135-3852-1
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-3851-3
Pages: 256 pp. 14 b&w illustrations

Description of material.: Straight edge is a clean living youth movement that emerged from the punk rock subculture in the early 1980s. Its basic tenets promote a drug-free, tobacco-free, and sexually responsible lifestyle-tenets that, on the surface, seem counter to those typical of teenage rebellion. For many straight-edge kids, however, being clean and sober was (and still is) the ultimate expression of resistance-resistance to the consumerist and self-indulgent ethos that defines mainstream U.S. culture.

In this first in-depth sociological analysis of the movement, Ross Haenfler follows the lives of dozens of straight-edge youths, showing how for these young men and women, and thousands of others worldwide, the adoption of the straight-edge doctrine as a way to better themselves evolved into a broader mission to improve the world in which they live. Although the original definition of straight edge focused only on the rejection of mind-altering substances and promiscuous sex, modern interpretations include a vegetarian (or vegan) diet and an increasing involvement in environmental and political issues.

The narrative moves seamlessly between the author's personal experiences and theoretical concerns, including how members of subcultures define "resistance," the role of collective identity in social movements, how young men experience multiple masculinities in their quest to redefine manhood, and how young women establish their roles in subcultures. More than a unique window into one youth movement, this book provides fresh perspectives on the meaning of resistance and identity in any subculture

1.       Source: Straight Edge: Hardcore Punk, Clean Living Youth, and Social Change.( Ross

In 19801 Ian McKay, the main lyricist for Minor Threat wrote the following lyrics after seeing the various types of substance abuse his peers were indulging in across the still burgeoning D.C. punk scene. “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.” (Straight Edge, McKay 1981). On the same release included the song Bottled Violence which addressed the resulting actions of substance abuse, gang violence.  “Lose control of your body. Beat the shit out of somebody. Half-shut eyes don't see who you hit but you don't take any shit. Go out and fight, fight. Bottled Violence” (Bottled Violence, McKay 1981). Flash forward 17 years to Salt Lake City Utah where police now consider followers of what has become its own social movement, the straight edge movement , members of a violent street gang terrorizing music fans and other young people who do not conform to the same tenants outlined as what Ian McKay initially described as “personal life choices” .

Straight edge is a clean living youth movement that emerged from the punk rock subculture in the early 1980s. (2006)

b. Its basic tenets promote a drug-free, tobacco-free, and sexually responsible lifestyle-tenets that, on the surface, seem counter to those typical of teenage rebellion. .( Ross Haenfler 2006)

c. For many straight-edge kids, however, being clean and sober was (and still is) the ultimate expression of resistance-resistance to the consumerist and self-indulgent ethos that defines mainstream U.S. culture.( Ross Haenfler 2006)