Romeo and Juliet was tragic in more ways than most people think. Sure the thing is sad, but the true tragedy occurred much earlier than Juliet   awakening from her slumber to find her lover’s lifeless body laying at her side. This is the heartbreaking tale of Romeo and Mercutio, a story of a bromance torn apart.   The bond between these two men was far stronger than simply friends. Even at death’s door Mercutio felt larger than  life itself; He mocked death, becuase he had Romeo. Likewise, without Mercutio, Romeo lost his one object of comfort; thus, with no one to keep him in balance, he went on a rampage leaving a trail of death behind him. I always wonder if Romeo would have killed himself for a women he barely knew if Mercutio was there. He would of at least checked to see if she was actually dead first.

Okay, no more jokes. This is a serious matter. In a society that mandates every male to say “no homo” after any comment that would dent their sense of masculinity, a bromance is the only escape. It’s the male equivalent of a “BFF” in the girl world, where you can tell the other person anything and not have to worry about them telling you to man up. There is no need to say “no homo” when you tell them that their socks are cool (ok maybe I exaggerated on that one) or act like you are incapable of any emotions what so ever. There is no unspoken rule book about what you can or cannot do.

Everyone’s seen it. Two guys that act like brothers but look nothing alike. Male teens that comment on each other’s clothes. Middle aged men having a drink together instead of going out on a date night with their wife. But there is a certain stigma put on these people by society. They get certain looks or get called “gay” (to which I always respond, “How did you know”). There seems to be a standard that men have abide by; they can’t show certain emotions without being regarded with a sense of hesitance.

This ideology is exactly what causes the patriarchal society we live in to and oppress women and minorities. Men in general think they have to uphold a standard and because they are held at such high esteem they are intitled to more. They are so used to being on guard and solving conflicts with an iron hammer that they have lost touch with what essentially makes them human, their emotion. Just like Romeo when he lost Mercutio, they have no one to keep them in check or reason with them because their pride prevents them from listening to any advice.

However tempting it might seem, you can’t really put all the blame on the men alone. They are raised from birth in a system that cultivates the idea that men are the backbone of society. They are raised from birth to believe that emotion reveals their weakness. Young men are raised to suppress fear, intimacy, and sadness. This “hard” man ideology is to blame for the aggressivity of men.

When men suppress their feelings, their egos grow fragile. Pathologically they become defensive, and tend to react with anger. In short, men are trained to always be on guard and show only the “masculine” parts of themselves. They become confrontational and bury their humanness inside.

This is where bromance comes in. If you have that person who can tell you that you are acting stupid, then chances are you won’t ever do anything stupid. This is more than just a close relationship between two men, it is a checks and balance system where one person can get over their pride enough to listen to the other. But this only come when both people are comfortable enough to talk to each other and be real, not macho. Thus, the only way for our society to progress and become genuinely equal is to break this macho man standard.

Whether it’s Romeo and Mercutio, or me and my best friend, bromances are just as important as any other relationship. Quite honestly, relationships are the only way to break barriers that seperate our minds from each other. It just happens that the barrier between masculinity and reality is also separating the rest of the world from men.