‘Nailed to the X’: A Lyrical History of the Straightedge Youth Subculture

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Abstract
In order to remedy substantive gaps in published academic literature, this article examines the American straightedge youth subculture. Conducting content analyses of straightedge music lyrics and other primary subcultural artefacts, this study delineates a history of the group since its appearance in the US during the early 1980s. Straightedge music lyrics suggest that the straightedge youth subculture has experienced a number of noteworthy transitions since its emergence. Early straightedge youth galvanized largely around an opposition to drugs, alcohol, and perceived forms of promiscuous sexual activity. During the late 1980s, however, straightedge youth intensified their opposition to intoxicants and they incorporated animal rights issues into their subcultural ideology. Moreover, in recent years several distinct factions have emerged from the general straightedge youth subculture. This article provides a substantive basis for future theoretical elaborations not only of processes of subcultural emergence, but also of processes of subcultural change and schism.

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