The Hite Report
A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A reproduction of the classic text, unavailable now for more than a decade, with a new introduction by the author. The Hite Report, first published in 1976, was a sexual revolution in six hundred pages. To answer sensitive questions dealing with the most intimate details of women's sexuality, Hite's innovation was simple: she asked women, a lot of them, everything--and published the results.
One hundred thousand women, ages fourteen to seventy-eight, were asked what they do and don't like about sex; how orgasm really feels, with and without intercourse; how it feels not to have an orgasm during sex; the importance of clitoral stimulation and masturbation; and to name the greatest pleasures and frustrations of their sexual lives, among many other questions.
The Hite Report declares that orgasm is easy and strong for women, given the right stimulation; that most women have orgasm most easily during masturbation or clitoral stimulation by hand; that sex as we define it is a cultural institution, not a biological one; and that attitudes must change to include the stimulation women desire.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The culmination of the Hite Report trilogy, this massive, potentially controversial work is a zealous indictment of men's attitudes toward love and "domination and condescension'' shown in their behavior toward women: ``Men need to create a new style of relationships with women. Right now, men's idea of the `male' way of life as heroic and courageous is in direct conflict with their treatment of women, their frequent lack of emotional development in personal relationships, disinterest in equal sharing with women, and the pain they often inflict on others and themselves.'' Much of the complaints (the bulk of the book includes overwhelmingly extensive quotes by women and statistics Hite compiled from 4500 responses to her questionnaire) aren't newbut women readers will empathize and feel validated. In this paean to womanhood, Hite dismisses Freudian and other psychological viewpoints that label women as masochistic or neurotic rather than acknowledging that they suffer from ``real problems created by a real social ideology.'' She is less than articulate (``Women are being `f----ed over' by a culture which is trying to persuade women to take on the `male' ideology'') and succumbs to offering tit for tat: ``On a personal level, if we find that men aren't treating us with much respect, we can stop treating them with so much respect, also.'' Literary Guild featured alternate.