Daria’s Reviews > Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: Beyond Romantic Friendships > Status Update

To be an object of desire—to be prized for one's manliness by an "other"—was positive and ego affirming regardless of the gender of the admirer. To have the skill and the means to bring pleasure to another person—particularly someone whose strength and masculinity were evident and unquestioned—was an act of empowerment for the pleasurer.