Liking or loving another person Having emotional attachment or connection to others is a manifestation of intimacy. Emotional risk-taking To have true intimacy with others, a person must open up and share feelings and personal information. Sharing personal thoughts and feelings with someone else is risky, because the other person may not feel the same way. To have intimacy means that we share and care, like or love, and take emotional risks. That makes us vulnerable the person with whom we share, about whom we care, and whom we like or love, has the power to hurt us emotionally.
Intimacy requires vulnerability, on the part of each person in the relationship.
Gender identity Knowing whether one is male or female. Most young children determine their own gender identity by age two. Some things are determined by the way male and female bodies are built or function. For example, only women menstruate and only men produce sperm. Other gender roles are culturally determined.