5 Responses to “The Hite Report: A National Study of Female Sexuality”

1. SevenDelta Says:
   December 15th, 2009 at 4:12 pm

   You can place fresh lipstick on a pig but the results are still hideous. The horrible data collection for this book was scientifically discredited in 1976.

   The author sent out 100,000 questionnaires, received 3019 and used 1844. From this small, self-selected response she drew her conclusions. First, question yourself, “If this was cancer research, would I bet my life on a 1.844% sample?”

   The questionnaire had 58 essay questions requiring “as much detail as possible.” Second, you must question yourself who took the time to answer. Was it the self-validated career women busy with fascinating leisure activities and a successful, loving relationship or was it the lonely, bitter, unsatisfied woman sitting at her kitchen table at Three in the morning? Do you have the time and inclination to write a long detailed essay on your sexuality? If you do, this book is about you. If not, I recommend “Heterosexuality” by Masters and Johnson or “The Janus Report on Sexual Behavior.” Both offer a more scientific approach to research and more reliable conclusions.

   Rating: 1 / 5

2. Anonymous Says:
   December 15th, 2009 at 4:37 pm

   I admire Shere Hite’s courage to cover such a controversial topic, but that doesn’t make it a excellent book. The focus was more on making people shocked at such a controversial topic than on covering such a controversial topic. Even so, it brought up many taboo topics that should’ve been out in the open years ago. Excellent book, not well balanced. Shere Hite is a excellent writer. Someone who can rackle this sort of sexual topic has to be!
   Rating: 3 / 5

3. Reader Says:
   December 15th, 2009 at 5:41 pm

   When I read both this report and the one on male sexual behavior, I was hoping to see something akin and updating to the Kinsey Report. Kinsey’s report on sexual behavior in both sexes furnished quite a bit of data more valuable than Hite’s because he questioned basically the same questions in his interviews with both sexes. Shere Hite didn’t do that. This gives the reader only a few areas to compare the sexual behavior of males and females.
   
   Hite stays completely away from the vital subject of childhood sexual experiences, obviously, by complete absence of coverage, treating it as a taboo, off-limits subject, whereas Kinsey did deal with it in both sexes. One does not become a sexual being suddenly after childhood, but during childhood as well. Not all childhood sexual experiences are from sexual abuse, contrary to what using “childhood sexual experiences” as a search word on the Internet would lead one to believe, but are mostly from experimentation, either on self or with others or both. Although sex doesn’t figure nearly as much in a prepubescent child’s life as it does later and children instinctively sense that certain things about it are not appropriate for them, nevertheless the subject does excite their curiosity and they do have strong feelings about it. Kinsey knew this and was bold enough to investigate it as best he could by interviewing adults about this subject, relying on their recollections, since it was obviously off-limits to interview children and probably should be.
   
   Hite also betrays a distinct feminist slant by highlighting abortion, the darling of the feminist movement. The best you can say for the relevance of abortion is that it is a byproduct of female sexuality. But, for that matter, so are pregnancy and childbirth, both of which Hite didn’t touch. Nor did she cover menstruation, which is quite relevant, usually negatively, to a female’s sexual experience.
   
   To allow one’s prejudices to shape research is very terrible science, and I’m worried Shere Hite is quite guilty of that and hurt the usefulness of what should have been a scientific report.
   Rating: 3 / 5

4. Melissa Ann Hutcheson Says:
   December 15th, 2009 at 8:29 pm

   I read this book when it first came out in 1976. I was 13 at the time, and boy oh boy did it make a huge impression on me. I am so glad I had this book at a young age, so that, growing up, I knew from the get go that I was a normal, healthy girl. This is an amazingly informative book. I have to say that I disagree with the above reviewer in that I do not believe the book and its graphic content were there for simply “shock value”, but were actual feelings, of actual women, from all over the United States. The fact that it was so graphic is perhaps an eye opener, but all the contents are presented in a fashion that makes it obvious that this is a serious work and not some sort of sleaze. All heterosexual males should read this book, because there is not a better reference of information regarding womens sexuality to be found. Highly recommended.
   Rating: 5 / 5

5. another reader Says:
   December 15th, 2009 at 10:45 pm

   “The Hite Report” (on female sexuality) is a seminal and indispensible text. It is by turn shocking, inspiring, disturbing, titillating, and sometimes dull, but always informative. What you get is practically PURE information, but of a sort rarely found elsewhere — if sex weren’t sex, the report would be a bone-dry academic snoozefest. Along with a bit of methodology and comment, the book’s content is simply collected testimonies of American womens’ subjective experiences of their sexuality. The reader is left to draw his or her own conclusions. As a study it assumes no strong thesis (unlike some of Hite’s later work), therefore as a critic one can’t say much more about it. That said, although the excellent people at Amazon insist we reviewers focus on the “product,” I have something to add about my experience of the “product” that may be of more interest.

   Back in the late 70’s, my mother, in uncharacteristic daring and playfulness, shelved an early edition of the “The Hite Report” next to her cookbooks on the kitchen bookshelf and left it there. Years later, around the age of 13, her son (me) noticed this book was not like the other ones. Needless to say, after reading just a bit standing there in the kitchen, the son absconded with it to his room and read the whole thing. And reread. Many times. It was years before it got replaced next to “Larouse Gastronomique. ” To this day, it lives there, and I’ve never questioned Mom if she ever noticed its leave of absence.

   My primary purpose at the time was titillation, but underneath my arousal was a sense of wonder and curiousity. Feminine sexuality was demystified for me even as my awe grew. Looking back, I see how I formed the basis of a deeply respectful understanding of the power of ALL sexuality. I accepted how taboos, shame, etc. might form around sex, but that sex in and of itself was not just neutral, but gorgeous and precious. I authentically experienced what many (I believe) can only offer as a platitude or abstraction.

   I could go on about what excellent I reckon “The Hite Report” did for me, but more vital to me now is that it helped me become both a excellent lover and a excellent friend. As a young adult, having been taught to reckon I was “just a guy,” I was repeatedly surprised to find myself being more insightful, accepting and compassionate about the twists and turns of many of my female companion’s sexuality than they, their girlfriends, their mothers, or even their therapists could be. I don’t say this to brag, but as a heartfelt testimonial to the educational and maturational value of having read this book during the right formative years. I was fortunate. In fact, I paused to write this review while shopping for a copy for a friend whom I wish could have read it 15 years ago.

   Everybody, regardless of gender or background, should be availed of “The Hite Report” at the apporpriate age by the approriate person (and perhaps the report on male sexuality too). The only drawback to this report is its age; while it is incorrect to call it outdated, mores and customs do change, and a study like this should be repeated at least once a generation.
   Rating: 5 / 5

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