Straight Edge: Hardcore Punk, Clean Living Youth, and Social Change

I have been straightedge my entire life .. but "claiming" I would say 12yrs old when i was introduced to minor threat randomly online downloading. I like the book a lot because it was very informative and controversial. It made you think of other ideas besides being edge like being vegan/Veg, animal rights, anti sexism etc.. which I have been turned on to being veg/vegitar for 6-7 yrs because of Earth Crisis. This book made me feel that i wasn't alone in this experimenting society and other people were just like me. I did learn over the years to be a little more accepting to the outside world, because just going to shows over the years had made secluded to just SXe and underground music we possessed . Also making friends outside the hardcore sxe scene was very hard, and people looked at you as if you were better then them. I can be militant at times, and still a hard ass when it comes to people being excessive to drinking and doing drugs which I still can't stand being around. I love being straightedge, its a way of life, and i have so much pride to be apart of it positively.Always stay true to yourself! xxxGood book to read.

😊👍

Great

Ross really did a wonderful job with this book. He analyzed the Straight Edge subculture from both a sociological point of view, as well as from a fan perspective. Ross has been part of the Straight Edge scene since the late 80's, and has witnessed a lot during this time. This gave him the ability to truly analyze the scene. The book reads great, and I recommend it to anyone that is interested in learning more about this subculture.

Well ... I started to read but is cool thanks guys just in time nice job thanks a lot .

It is a well-written book but I or straight edge. I only read this book because it was required for a class on punk rock.

I just finished reading this and I want to convey how impressed I am with this author. Not only does he talk about straight edge from a personal/biographical viewpoint, he incorporates direct quotes from other individuals in the scene, especially the Denver sXe scene, into his very well organized book. Moreover, he doesn't just leave his findings un-analyzed. Haenfler looks at the inherent contradictions in straight edge in light of gender roles, militant vs. positive straight edgers, and more. He really looks at straight edge in relation to what other ethographers and sociologists have said about subcultures and other non-mainstream movements, including punk, teeny-boppers, and skin heads, to name a few of the comparisons. As I said in the title of this review, this is truly an intelligent and complete ethnography; Haenfler looks at straight edge from so many social and cultural angles, really getting to the core of the movement, while still exploring the implications of the widespread variation amongst straight edgers. I'm really hoping to be able to use this book for a writing seminar I'm in at the moment...how cool would that be?On a more personal note, this book solidified my pledge to being straight edge and really made me feel proud of that decision. Haenfler mostly discusses straight edgers in the hardcore music scenes in Denver, NY, and Boston, but I've never been a member of any real straight edge "scene." It's got to be easier for straight edge kids who have a support group to keep them on track, but I've never really had that. Reading this book made me realize that I've come to the same sort of progressive conclusions about life, society, and politics that other scene-straight edgers have, but all on my own. So in that sense, this book really connected me to the global straight edge movement.Haenfler also provides a good historical analysis of straight edge as well by discussing in relative detail the music that was and is so essential to the scene. He gives a well-balanced and well-intermingled look at straight edge hardcore music as well as the other social implications of straight edge. He clearly knows a lot about the music too.Thanks to Ross Haenfler for writing this book. Seriously, it is so frickin good. And it made me feel so good about the world. Sweet deal.

This book is a first that I know of on the subject that's written by both an academic and a current member/participant. Just because of that fact it is worth checking out. I think it does a good job explaining the movement in a way that makes sense to both members and interested outsiders, without sensationalizing it as usually done by non-participants, or demonizing or downplaying it as sometimes done by ex-participants. An actual sociological study, this book is a lot more than interviews with bands, stories and anecdotes.

Even though the book is well written and full of interesting information, it must be said that despite its name it mainly deals with the Denver, Colorado scene. It analyzes a local movement and not a global one.