The Disconnection Between Men and Society

       In this essay, I will examine how society and friend groups impose masculine norms upon individuals’ psyches, influencing them in very negative and detrimental ways. I will examine the short movie Invincible and explain how the youth detention facility as well as Marc’s friends impose masculine norms and ideals upon Marc. Then, I will examine how in the short story Guys Club: No Faggots, Bitches, or Pussies Allowed, society places masculine expectations upon men which causes men to not be true to themselves.

     In the short film Invincible, we can see the clear disconnect Marc has with the world around him. It is clear he wants to be a good person but the world around him does not let him do so. The pre-existing institutions, such as youth detention facilities, demonstrate this. It is clear this institution hurts him far more than it hurts anyone else, and it is because of this Marc feels disassociated with his life. He feels great unhappiness because he is trapped in a cage and has no freedom and takes any opportunity he can to be free. Men are often perceived as needing to be obedient and listening to rules, and, when someone does not abide by these rules, they are shackles into a prison which is mentally detrimental for them. These institutions, which are designed to “help” troubled youth, in my opinion, do nothing but hurt them more. We can see that Marc does not abide by these norms and rules which are placed upon men, and, because of it, he is enclosed to being in a very small room where he is meant to obey and be a man. Marc, like many young men In our modern society, suffers greatly from the standards society places upon men, and these expectations placed upon Marc by the youth detention center obviously exacerbated his struggle and caused him to commit suicide.

      Not only can we see the disconnect between the institutions at play and Marc, but we can also see the disconnect with Marc and his friends. I truly believe Marc does not really care about his friends because he does give them much attention or care about what they say. He is not a delinquent like them and sees things very differently than them. On top of this, Marc does not intimidate others and act rowdy, quite the opposite. He is someone which demonstrates empathy and chooses to stay alone than be with others. He is a good person at heart, and is unable to show it due to the conditions he is in. This is why I believe he decides to commit suicide in the end. I thoroughly believe he is a good person who could easily be reformed. However, because he does not have any friends to talk to and is trapped in what is essentially a prison, we can understand very clearly why an individual such as Marc would feel disconnected and isolated from the world around him and choose to commit suicide. He feels very troubled as a man because he feels as if he does not fit in in either society or his friend groups. Expectations that are placed upon Mark, such as being violent and immature, make him feel out of place. Marc is a compassionate and caring young man and does not fit the societal norm of what a “man” is. He cared for the young boy who had just gotten into the center and is open to talk about his feelings. He sees the world differently as his friends and does not feel well being trapped in the youth detention facility. He feels as if he has been abandoned by society and all those around him and ends his own life because of this solitude placed upon him.

 Now let’s consider the short story Guys Club: No Faggots, Bitches, or Pussies Allowed. In this short story, we can see the same disconnects present as in the short movie Invincible. Let’s consider the societal norms present at the time. These norms can be seen throughout the novel as being the following: men cannot act or be like women. Why? Because acting in such a manner is seen as gay, and that’s bad (according to people of the time). This behaviour of saying what people can and can’t do can be seen as very harmful to young people growing up, especially people who are a part of the queer community. This can cause people such as the Carlos to be confused and act differently due to the societal pressure places upon individuals. In the United States, where the story takes place, we can see how the Carlos is shocked when he visits Zambia, as people do not care about how you act. This culture shock is mainly due in part to the culture of caring about how you look in the United States. Being the culture capital of the world, many people their care about how they look and how others perceive them. Therefore, individuals have difficulty expressing themselves and who they are, and, as such, many people might supress how they feel to fit into the norms put in place by society. We can see that when Carlos goes to Zambia, he feels this freedom of expression he’s never felt before in the United States, and then kisses his friend. Although it is not the case for Carlos, we can observe why many queer people at the time felt isolated and disconnected from society. They were all told that they need to date women and be strong masculine men, and, if you chose to do otherwise, you were a “faggot”. This societal norm placed upon men caused unhappiness to many people as can be seen throughout the story. The idea present at the time to be masculine caused many people to be overtly toxic to anything that can be considered not masculine and even gay.

  In conclusion, we can see how society and friends can influence an individual’s mental health negatively by placed standards and expectations on what It means to be a man. In the movie, we can see how the youth detention center as well as his “friends” cause him to feel isolated and disconnected from this world, causing him to commit suicide. In the short story, we can see how societal norms placed upon men cause people to lie to themselves and hide their true feelings, leading many people to feel unhappy and insecure.