Physiological Needs as the only Fulfilled Needs
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Hope’s needs for food, drink, clothes and shelter are fulfilled abundantly considering her background from a rich, old family. She is an only child, and she
describes her family background in this statement, “My father is a bank chairman, my grandfather a doctor of international acclaim. My mother stayed home in our
beautiful house to raise me, as mothers did then” Donahue 1. Since Hope’s father is a bank chairman, he must be able to support their family financially and
earn enough money to buy food, drink, and clothes for her. Since Hope’s mother is a stay-at-home housewife, she must have enough time to provide food, drink,
and clothes for Hope. Since Hope is an only child, she does not have to compete with other siblings for those needs.
Hope’s need for shelter to live and sleep comfortably is also fulfilled. She grows up in a “beautiful house” located in “a tiny enclave of Los Angeles called
Hancock Park, an area as renowned for its stately mansions and old-money families” Donahue 1. Besides food, drink, clothes, shelter, and a lot of money,
her additional needs are also fulfilled, thus ensuring that she can live comfortably. For example, she gets her own car at a very young age as a gift from her parents,
while most other young people must save for a long time before they can afford such a luxury. She can enroll at a good college, while many other people must
apply for a scholarship, as shown in her comment “I never had to apply for a college scholarship or save for a new car. These things were given to me”
Donahue 1. Her need to have sex is fulfilled after she enters adulthood. With her good
looks and good clothes, she never has any difficulty finding a partner. There are
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so many men who are interested in her and willing to have sex with her. As she admits herself, she lost her virginity in college. Furthermore, in college, she keeps
changing boyfriends. She dates many men, choosing and dumping them as she wishes.
To compensate for the incompetence I felt in the classroom, I embarked on a series of small, brutal romantic victories. I had always been fickle when
it came to boyfriends. Except for Hart, with whom I’d played a cat-and- mouse game, I picked up and dropped suitors like trying on clothes. One
boyfriend called me “the ultimate Gemini.” At Berkeley, my romantic dysfunction kicked into high gear. I dated a series of my classmates, none
for longer than a few months. I was proud of my reputation as a female Lothario, someone who usually tired of men before they tired of me
Donahue 27.
As implied by the quotation above, Hope can easily pick up a boyfriend to fulfill her physiological sexual need among her “series of small, brutal romantic
victories”, if she wants to. After college, there are still other men who approach her and are interested in her, so she can still choose a man to fulfill her sexual
need easily. Therefore, physiological needs do not form a part of Hope Donahue’s
motivation in doing plastic surgery. Her action of doing plastic surgery is not motivated by the physiological needs, because these needs are already fulfilled
even without plastic surgery.