The female protagonists' deviated portrayal of normalized gender binaries in The Things They Carried solidifies the male domination of war and also uproots any possibility of male acceptance of women who dare to test. the masculine protocol imposed on America by its own soldiers. O'Brien is unique in his ability to offer the perspective of someone who is not only a survivor of the Vietnam War, but also a man who thrives within America's strict societal construct of forced masculinity. Men deployed to Vietnam, including O'Brien, lived in fear of being banished from a constructed hierarchy of masculinity, instead of actually living in fear for their lives. American society in the 1970s “polarized genders, reinforced binaries and stereotypes and privileged men” (Vanderwees 191). Society creates the image of a modern American man using stereotypes of strength, fitness, and a desire to defend one's country and define what "masculine" means. Any man outside of this strict definition of masculinity is either considered weak and