8A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
STRAIGHT EDGE
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2002
Straight edge
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sumption of animals and animal byproducts. By the time Momberg converted, straight edge had become an image by which rebellious youth differentiated themselves from the rest of their generation. It had also become a holistic view of the world, a belief that all innocent life was sacred.
To complete the circle of purity, Momberg soon went vegetarian, then vegan, abstaining from all animal products.
"I started putting X's on my hands," he said. "I wanted everyone to know that I was straight edge. I had been feeling this way for so long."
Jon Barker, an 18-year-old Kansas City, Mo., resident who remains committed to straight edge, felt the same way from the beginning.
"Straight edge is a good outlet to be yourself," he said. "It provides a good outlet when kids are tired of having their identities lost."
Like Coffman, Barker needed only one bad experience to decide.
time, but one night I got really trashed and woke up and realized that wasn't for me," he said.
"I wasn't straight edge at the
Though they were inspired by others who were straight edge, nearly everyone interviewed for this story said their ultimate decisions to convert were their own, and they weren't interested in preaching to others.
"It ites with the same way I feel about religious fanaticism." Coffman said. "I don't want to be told how to live my life, and I don't want to tell others how to live theirs. I don't want to breathe it down someone's throat."
Wes Eisold, singer for American Nothing, is no longer straight edge, but the rest of his band remains committed. American Nothing (formerly American Nightmare) performed Nov. 14 at the Bottleneck.
Many modern movements such as straight edge, are identity based, said Lorraine Bayard de Volo, assistant professor of political science at KU. At least part of it has to do with growing up and developing new outlooks on the world, as generations of youth idealists have done before.
"I don't think it's a movement anyone can jump onto because it requires a lot of self-control," he said. "I'd rather people just be themselves."
Barker agreed.
"Many of these new social movements are about being a part of a collective identity," she said. "It's a new way of defining community."
But as youth involved in movements grow older, Bayard de Volo said, their self-interests change, and their values and priorities begin to shift. As the baby boomers, who were involved in political and social activism during the '60s and '70s, matured, she said, they entered the work force and developed different values.
Donald Haider-Market, also an assistant professor of political science at the University, agreed and said teens were often seeking ways to rebel against dominate structures or regimes. In the case of straight edge, puritan values and sobriety had become the ultimate form of rebellion.
But it didn't seem destined to last long.
"Youth already have the motivation to find something — they have a stronger drive than other age groups." Haider-Markel said. "But after a while most people feel like they don't have to rebel and participate in the movement."
Before some straight edge youth would grow tired of the need to rebel, however, a period of radicalism and violence would take place.
As straight edge progressed
through two revival periods in the '80s and '90s, more young idealists, tiring of the world's fascination with mind-altering substances, increasingly believed sobriety was a necessity more than it was a choice.
Hard line
Though most youth embraced pacifism and did not promote force or violence to advance their ideas, a fragment of the straight edge movement began to prefer such tactics.
In Salt Lake City during the late '90s, reports of straight edge violence began to surface. Marilyn Felkner, data analyst for the Salt Lake Area Gang Project, described an incident in which a straight edge kid had stabbed a 15-year-old to death. Felkner said numerous other threats and assaults had occurred, including the destruction of a McDonald's by a straight edge vegan.
Levi Watson of the band Fall
Silent told voiceofreason.de in a
2001 online interview that he had
been pulled off-stage in Dayton, Ohio, by a group of straight edge kids and beaten for a song condemning straight edge violence. His face was smashed and four of his ribs were broken.
"Straight edge is a very positive thing." Watson said during the interview. "It meant a lot to me, and it kept me from doing a lot of dumb shit when I was a kid. But a lot of the time, straight edge is a drug as well."
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"It goes with the same way I feel about religious fanaticism. I don't want to be told how to live my life, and I don't want to tell others how to live their's."
JeremyCoffman Lawrence resident, still straight edge
"It's a lifestyle that can be misleading. At the time, I felt like the only way I could connect with people was if they agree with me."
John Momberg Lawrence resident, no longer straight edge
"The thing about straight edge is it has too many guidelines. It's a strict lifestyle you feel like you have to impose on yourself."
Chris Miller
Ottawa junior, no longer
straight edge