Maslow's First Level, sex?

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I get the whole maslow thing. The first level is stuff you MUST have to survive, air, water, food, excretion..... But how is sex included in that list? I have gone a year without sex and....I'm still alive.....

Seems like it should be in the "love and belonging" category...

Undoubtedly sex is part of the first level of basic needs...and it's also part of level three (love)...The basic need is for the survival of the species, i.e. to reproduce. The 'love' is for the companionship and closeness

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I'm going to go with sex is there not in the sense of it being individual pleasure really...but it's there in the sense of procreation. Without sex, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about it. Without air, food, water, sleep, then humans would die out. Without sex, humans would die out.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Sexual health is part of the basic functioning of every human being.

You and many others seem to be interpreting the placement in Maslow based only on how often someone has sex. This is a mistake, it is based on whether a person is able to function sexually. It is the function part that puts it in the base category.

How much sex a person has or doesn't have or how they feel about sex or how they feel about themselves are definitely part of the higher categories. But basic sexual functioning is a basic need.

Americans in general are overly uptight about this, which makes this a very good conversation to have.

Whether or not someone can function sexually is different from whether sex itself is a "need". That's different from food, water and shelter. The digestive system needs to function AND food is a "need". Another way to look at this is what needs to happen first before the secondary thing occurs. A person who is starving, dehydrated and exposed to the elements is not going to be thinking about sex. They aren't equivalent.

The "Americans are uptight about this" cliche has been around since Kinsey at least. I'm not sure what it is that other countries do that makes Americans "uptight" in your view.

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If you folks just look at the pyramid, you'll see that basic needs includes 'sex' (for the reasons I stated several posts above) and the 'love' level includes 'sexual intimacy'

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Specializes in Emergency Department, House Supervisor.

I am LOL at all of us...a famous theorist places a basic bodily function in his hypothetical "tower of needs" and even while some of us simultaneously DENY the need...we sure are dedicating some blog space to it. Humans. Can't live with 'em...can't shoot 'em.

Told ya I was SYCK

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU.

Sexual health is part of the basic functioning of every human being.

You and many others seem to be interpreting the placement in Maslow based only on how often someone has sex. This is a mistake, it is based on whether a person is able to function sexually. It is the function part that puts it in the base category.

How much sex a person has or doesn't have or how they feel about sex or how they feel about themselves are definitely part of the higher categories. But basic sexual functioning is a basic need.

Americans in general are overly uptight about this, which makes this a very good conversation to have.

So where do the severly phsyically and mentally challenged fit into this? Those who can not eat and/or breath on their own, so we peform these functions for them on the basis that their life is still of value and worth providing for. Since sex is at the bottom of the pyramid, do we fulfill this function for them too? How do we even began to scratch the surface of that subject? Or do we deny that they are human beings like you and me because (in my own, non-expert opinion) these individuals do not need sex as a basic need and that others take higher priority.

Some will say that those of us who disagree about sex being a basic need (other than for procreation as a species) are being "uptight" and denying the needs of a patient, but I don't see that being the case at all. Really, we are arguing theoretical points, which place sex on the same level for the most basic form of survival as nutrition and oxygenation. Sex is important. Most here would agree that for many it is an important aspect in their quality of life and that any dysfunction that inhibits it should be considered and treated. Remember, the whole point of Maslow's theory (as I understand it, correct me if i'm wrong) is to point out what basic needs have to be fulfilled before the higher and more complicated ones can be addressed. Someone who is starving or fighting for breath is not even thinking about sex, nor is the body preparing for it in any way shape or form.

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Basic need for a man.

Love & Belonging for a woman.

:-0)

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The reason I stand by my statement that sex as a basic need pertains to procreation is because procreation is truly the only reason a functionally healthy sexual pattern is necessary. If not for that, we would find another way to express our need to be close with someone, as prescribed by the love and belonging level. In level one, the fact that you can produce sperm/ovulate and ensure the 'goods can be delivered' satisfies meeting that need.

Level three, on the other hand, pertains to finding a mate where having sex is only part of the equation in terms of developing a relationship and satisfying that sense of 'belonging-ness'...

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To funny. I saw that on the Judith Miller Nclex-PN study skills video the other day. It was the first time that I had seen it on the bottom of the Maslow's pyramid. However as I am completing the final quarter of a year LVN program, and my boyfriend keeps trying to convince me that he is dying without sex maybe it really is a basic need. Sex or NCLEX. Guess which one is winning.

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sex moves up and down in the heirarchy, trust me.

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sex moves up and down in the heirarchy, trust me.

It does, but not for the same reasons - there are specific reasons why it (for example)appears in the first step and third step.

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Kind of like if you had a sore knee that you decided not to have checked out. You favor it until something else starts to fail...perhaps lower back pain. You can surmise that 1) these are both related the functionality of mobility, 2) one issue may have caused the other...but 3) one issue is not the other...they most likely require seperate interventions to help acheive optimal mobility function and one may require a higher order of importance than the other...just our discussion, being able to have the confidence to enter a relationship and whether or not you're shooting blanks are two different issues, even if there are common underlying factors

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