I am not afraid to say my relationship with my man is important, even vital, to who I am as a person.

The statement pushes back against a strain of public discourse that treats women’s romantic partnerships as either irrelevant to identity or as evidence of dependence. Brzezinski frames intimacy as a legitimate, even “vital,” component of selfhood—something that can coexist with ambition, autonomy, and public achievement. The emphasis on being “not afraid” suggests a social penalty for admitting emotional reliance, especially for women in high-visibility careers. Read this way, the quote argues for a more integrated view of personhood: professional identity and private attachment are not mutually exclusive, and acknowledging the latter can be an act of honesty rather than weakness.