ABSTRACT
When someone decides to practice living as a man of conscience, personal friendships may take on an intense new emotional relevance, as if to the core of one’s being. This vibrancy between friends may require some getting used to. As one slowly but surely cedes the gender-centered personal identity that finds its only replenishment in relational acts of disidentification, even the most casual acquaintanceships may suddenly seem momentous. And significant romantic attachments may seem so full of portent that one’s brain goes into turbodrive trying to track all the critical interactional action in conscientious detail.
