Stories Overview
The 16 participants told a total of 35 stories about experiences of intoxicated sex. To analyse these stories, I separated each story from the interview data, divided each story into “scenes” based on aspects of setting (time & place) and then compared stories to one another.
Two broad categories of stories emerged: public and private stories. Each of these broad categories had 4 genres based on similar themes and practices related to intoxicated sex.
A narrative approach was used in this study because stories are a natural way for humans to talk about experiences. Details that a person includes or emphasizes in a story provide insight into the social environment in which a person lives.
These stories revealed that guys in Whistler live in a social environment governed by rules of gender and drug culture that reward risk-taking, but also encourage self-control and moderation based on maintaining a masculine image of competence and independence.