Some of you may have already read my blog and know about this, but I've made a decision to fully go Straight Edge. I'm even wanting to get the X's tattooed to show the world what I am. I feel better now than I ever have, and I'm happy for it.


I've seen so many of my friends/aquaintences/family members' lives who were fucked up by alcohol and drugs, and I want no part of it. I'm already clean anyway, so why not just go ahead and make a commitment?

I've been reading up on the philosophy of it a lot, and it's something I know I want to belong to. Getting drunk/stoned/high/whatever just clogs your mind and doesn't solve problems, it only covers it up. Being Straight Edge will also help me to be more responsible for my own actions. I won't be one of these sad idiots who blames everything wrong in their lives on "being drunk at the time".

Being Straight Edge is also a testament against promiscuous sex. I've never had sex anyway, so it's not like I'm sacrificing anything! When I do start, I know it will be with someone who feels the way that I do about Straight Edge values and it will be a monogamous relationship. It's a win-win situation.


When I get tattooed, I'll show everyone. As of now, I'm just asking the basic question: How do you feel about the Straight Edge scene/world? Is it appealing, interesting, stupid, irrational, or what? I'm interested on getting your take on it :D

Good for you, Dorotea :) Straight edge is a good philosophy to have, and very healthy :tu: I don't smoke or do drugs or have sex period, but I do enjoy the occasional drink :blush: I do have a problem with straight edge people who are annoying about it, though. In the punk community, there are some straight edgers who are very judgmental of those who drink and/or do drugs, that they are terrible people for doing so. I don't like hard drugs, but if someone wants to drink or smoke the occasional joint, none of my business. Good luck, and keep up the good work. :horns2

^ I do agree with you there. I don't believe in shoving it down other people's throats, but I do believe that it's better in the long run :D

This is not a slight towards you Dorotea, but the way I feel about SE is I don't need a "philosophy" or tattoos to show the world who I am. To me SE seems a little conforming, but instead of conforming to the mainstream, your conforming to a certain subset of the population. Again, not to be insulting. Perhaps you can help me better understand. As far as I know, SE is an extreme music and lifestyle culture that branched out of the LDS youth culture. A huge part of the culture is punk music and no pre marital sex, drugs, or drinking. The "x" are a throwback to mixed age clubs where minors were given black "x"s on their hands so the bartenders would know they were not to be served alcohol. That's all fine, but why do you need to be SE to live a healthy lifestyle? I guess what I'm ultimately saying is, why do you feel you need to belong to a group to be seen as an individual? Again, perhaps I'm completely missing the point.

You're 100% on the mark with the history, Raquel. I want to be a part of this simply because I just feel it in me. No other motivations are behind it.

As long as its the right thing for you...but i wouldnt get the tattoos just in case you change your mind...you never know, you might. Might have a drink on your wedding night or something so...i wouldnt get the tattoos...or if i would get them i get them where no one can see them to emphasise how it is a personal decision rather than i dunno showing it off.

I'm glad for you that you made a choice which you are happy about.
I don't know much about SE, only that what you told I knew. I'm not interested in it myself. And I had a strange experience with someone in my class who claimed to be a straight edge vegan. But she whore Doc Martins, ate cheese sandwiches and drink loads of beer.... But if you ate a ham sandwich see started to spoil you appetite.
So I truly hope that it works for you... and if it doesn't please don't claim to be something you're not. ( don't see that as an insult, but as advice, from someone who has seen that people did claim something to be that that they are not, and people wouldn't take her serious anymore)

I agree with Cat. If you feel its right for you, go for it. But I would hold off on the tattoos. It's not part of being SE to have to get tattoos. It's not so much that you'll "change your mind," I just think you should give yourself some wiggle room for personal evolution. People evolve with time in every way possible, and you don't want to be stuck with a perminant reminder of one of your past states, especially in a prominant place on your body. Just my two cents.

I feel the same!

On a side note: I wonder how James will feel about his tattoos when he gets older.

Maybe he'll regret getting so many, but maybe he'll keep adding to his "collection" as his interests change. It's hard to determine unless you know exactly why he got the tattoos he got and what they symbolize to him.

Well doc martins are made of leather thus animal product
cheese comes from cows thus animal product
and beer is the only vegan things she's ingesting....but its not straight edge. Way to go...i wouldnt take her seriously.

I cant help thinking that if she puts Xs on her hands people will correlate that with some other musical trends that i have seen that are exploiting it. If i was gonna get an X...i wouldnt get it on the back of my hand...i put them somewhere else.

Like i think if Doro got the hammer and sickle on her arm she'd probably not evolve out of it...coz it is a left wing stance...but straight edge requires some serious will power, i guess just in case i wouldnt get the tattoo.

How bout this? Go straight edge for a few years then way up the probability of u staying that way...and get the tattoo. A sort of probationary period. Dont rush in basically. Treat it like a relationship...go slooow.

If it's right for you then great - fair play to you.

I have to agree however with the other comments about tattoos. As you grow older, you change, some things don't, but over time, ideas morph, other ideas come in. It's part of life. So it would probably be worth giving it a few years, just to make sure that it is entirely right for you, that there will be nothing else.

Speaking from experience as one who decided as a teen never to drink/do drugs etc, things do change. I have never done drugs in any form, but I do drink now (not necessarily to excess) but I enjoy it. So yeah, ideas you have at one point in your life, may well be different to ideas and values later on.

Yeah. I agree with Shayi. Maybe draw the X's on your hands for a few years? lol. See if you like it or not. And until you've experienced drinking, I wouldn't put it past you. I know I claimed I was "straight edge" when I was younger... we see how well that turned out, haha. But yeah. That's just my opinion.

Thanks for all of your comments/advice. I'm not just going to jump out and get some random tattoo, I'm giving it some thought.


And as for the whole "evolution" thing, I don't think this is something I'm going to grow out of. I've had a lot of opportunities to get drunk or stoned when I was in High School, but I passed on it. I know this is a promise I can keep, and if I didn't then I wouldn't do it.

I plan on keeping this until death. I know I've changed some with time, but there are some things that I firmly believe in. Most of my poltical views now are the same as when I was a kid, and that's something I'm going to stick with, too.

Well that's good but just in case...id say give it a few years before you get the tattoo instead just like Shayi said...draw Xs. Do straight edge people have to be vegetarians or vegans?

Veganism and Straight Edge often tag-team, but you don't have to be a vegan to be Straight Edge.

Being Straight Edge is cool for you, but not if you preach. People that are straight edge that i know give me a mouthful about the amount of alcohol I drink and how much it's "Damaging" me. Sorry, but I'm not thick, I think I know that.

Also I think that getting Straight Edge tattoos is totally ironic. Being straight edge is about not poisoning the body. Putting ink into the skin is poison.

So, this is nothing against you, but tattooing it defeats the point. You don't have to "wear a badge" for people to know that it's your birthday, catch my point?

Well Alcohol is a toxin and if you don't catch how much you drink when you're young, it can cause problems later. I don't preach, but I get concerned with friends.

Good for you :) ! And as Torr said, preaching can be annoying sometimes. Cause I do know that I drink alot for my age (and gender too I've heard..) and I had a health check and I was informed I'm a very heavy drinker, and I know it. And I know the damage it does, am I stupid not to stop? Not IMO, cause it's a desision I've made when I started. I may not drink as much when I get older and wiser.. Who knows. But atleast I'm not addicted and I don't necesserely need it to have fun.

But I think SE is a good thing if it's for you :D !

It's fine to be concerned but in the end, its their life choice to poison their own body just like its someone's own choice to be whipped for pleasure. You can introduce them to situations where they dont drink to have fun...so they know that they dont need drink to have fun. But telling them...its not the way to go, im sure you know how rebellious the human spirit is.

...And they'll wind up with the diseases and I'll have to pay taxes.

But you can always tell someone that you are concerned about them. And they may ease up a bit out of love for you or to maintain your respect for them.
But well that only happens if they think it's worth it to them.

I'm with Juju.

Not trying to sound mean, but the world is full of enough drunks and stoners. To me it's kind of a way that a lot of people escape from bigger problems or an excuse for bad behaviour. I choose to be one less statistic.

I'm with JuJu and Torr.

Not everyone is to end up as a drinker. You can drink and get trashed everyonce in a while without being a failure. There are much bigger faults than taking a sip every once in a while.

Plus Dorotea, we can't judge the way people react to their big problems. I'm not saying that if you have a bad day than it's ok to became and alcholic, mind you: but sometimes we have to face things we are not capable of deal with. Some people can get over it, others can't--but I don't judge them, because I don't know what would I do in their situation.
As for the bed behaviour excuse, I'm with you.

Agreed.

You said in your title Doro, that you'd already made your decision to go straight edge, you don't need to justify your choice to us :)
More to the point, if you're clean anyway, does it make much of a difference? I'm confused really, is it a gradual thing you've decided on or is it a very final choice?

If you want to get tattooed with the X's, fair enough, but I'm not totally clear on the point of it. Of course, it's something to be very proud of, especially if you hold it so close to your heart as you do, but where's the need to show it off? Why not just be privately smug about it and share with the people who have similar interests or those who ask?
To me, showing off about it is a bit like shoving it in their faces. You don't want people to be forcing any of their pro-alcohol/drugs views in their face, so you know *shrugs*
Of course, the counter argument of that is that people DO shove alcohol and drugs views at people and DO show off about it and it's strange why it's more socially acceptable than being totally clean and sober. Confusing, but it seems, that's indeed the way of things.

It's good that you've decided not to be preachy about it, but your further posts seem a bit iffy on that side. All for you defending your right to be straight edge, but people are allowed to treat themselves as they will - and will continue to do it, because generally when people take things like this to extremes, their last thought is of the consequences and the thought of who will have to take care of the mess, ie, taxpayers, is even further beyond that.
Human Nature wont change. It just is.

From saying that you're removing yourself from being another statistic, I hope you're doing it for the right reasons. I hope you're doing it to improve your health and quality of life as you see it. Either way, good luck to you :)

Maybe I'm just totally not getting it, or maybe I'm just too easy going either way.

Exactly Fi. maybe I should get "PROUD DRUNK!" tattooed on my face... wait a second...
Everybody knows I'm a drunk but I don't make any excuses for it!

oh Torr!!! :lol:

I love you :huggie:

I'm so getting that tattooed just above my arse...

get it!!!! :biggrin

might get it in a metallica style... will save me a tatt!

:horns: :lol: :horns2

wow @Sweet Clementine

I really look up to you in that point - I never ever could do that!!!

-respect-