Presentation

Jennifer Sanchez

Article 1

10/13/2014

Rethinking Subcultural Resistance: Core Values of the Straight Edge Movement by Ross Haenfler

The author, Ross Haenfler, uses the core values of the sXe movement to evaluate how members build and understand their individual experiences of what it is to be part of a subculture. Theorists state that people join into subcultures to resist the ideologies of the mainstream cultures. Postmodern theorists suggest that subculture movements is more of a personal quest to individuality and finding "true self". The sXe movement started on the east coast in the early 1980s. The "s" stands for "straight", the "e" stands for "edge, and the "X" is the symbol for the straight edge movement. The movement came about as a response to the punk scene's destructive behaviors, such as drug and alcohol use, violence, and promiscuity.  The creators of sXe embraced a lifestyle of "clean living", which is abstaining from all drugs and alcohol, tobacco, and reserving sex for caring relationships.

Haenfler found the sXe scene when he was fifteen and adopted their commitments because he felt it was an alternative to peer pressure and a proactive avenue to social change. The data he possesses is from over fourteen years of observing the sXe movements in a variety of settings, roles, and interviews of members of the scene. He gathers his data primarily from participant observations, and unstructured and in-depth interviews. He chose sXers with differing levels of involvement. He recorded and organized his data through notes and categories.

One notable finding that Haenfler makes is that while the sXe movement promoted individuality and free thought, for some members the firm lifestyle requirements created conformity and close-mindedness. Which is far from the "positivity" that the movement broadcasted. He also found that resistance movements are more complex than just a reaction to mainstream society. He states that members have their own individualistic reasons for their participation that are not central to the group's ideology, but at the same time, still upholds the shared understandings of the subcultures meaning. For example, some individuals abstained from alcohol and drug use to reject the substance abuse in their own households or to fight their own addictive inclinations.

 

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