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…but men need a brotherhood; they need a close group united around a shared mission. Men need other men with whom to participate in a common cause, fighting the same war. They need brothers who get it.

Despite movies like Unforgiven, the importance of brotherhood to masculinity can certainly be found in popular culture too. It is deeply ingrained in us, and stories that celebrate it ring true. Consider another famous Western: The Magnificent Seven. What made them magnificent, if not their fraternity? Individually, each was great in his own way, but also a dysfunctional wreck in others. Not one of them alone could truly be called magnificent. Yet together, they polished over each other’s flaws, filled in for each other’s weaknesses, and combined each other’s strengths.

In his article “Sometimes, I Miss War,” Benjamin Sledge captures the male need for brothers on a mission:

I hated war, but strangely enough, I loved it, too. I’d find myself wishing I were back overseas while driving alone,…