Sex is part of reproduction and thats why it is a basic need in a survival sense. It also a basic urge, like hunger. It is also low on the totem pole for self actualization, or not really a part of it. The whole Maslow thing is, to me, why people in a simpler society may have happiness while Americans do not. In a simpler society, every day is a survival situation--you do not think or realize those goals higher up in the pyramid and so that ignorance is bliss. Surviving to the next day or generation is everything. Once the society gets to a point where survival is more assured, then you face those higher goals of self actualization, individualism and meaning within the world. Those things are greater and more complex than sex.
So for me, sex is low on the totem pole. I like it, I like it a lot, but I have higher concerns. My self-concept and ideals are one of making the world an overall better place, done so by leaving some sort of lasting impression and living a life that doesn't compromise my hopes. The pursuit of sex isn't really a big part of those things. Going out to clubs and looking to get laid doesn't fulfull any higher goals for me. If I don't procreate, it is not the end of my lineage or my society/community, contrary to what it may be like in say a small third world village. It is just the same as I don't need to go out hunting every day to fill my basic need of food.
I could be an average, sex-motivated male, but that is playing a role and not fulfilling my goal. What a man can be, he must be.
