Form and Functions of ‘Slut Bashing’ in Male Identity Constructions in15-Year-Olds

In this article I discuss an excerpt from a group discussion between five 15-year-old boys who, in the presence of an adult moderator, engaged in the act of ‘slut bashing’ while telling a minimal story about an incident of female promiscuity. The analysis proceeds microanalytically in a three-step procedure that details the positions taken by the young participants during the interaction. First, I analyze how the story characters are positioned in story time and story space. Next, I analyze how the interactants draw up their positions in relation to one another during the interaction. Finally, in the third step, I discuss how the first two levels are used to develop positions in relation to any preexisting normative discourses (master narratives). My observations focus on the role of narrative and interaction in the microgenetic construal of identity and self, and reveal how positioning becomes part of the identity construction of the five male adolescents.