“In this fascinating exploration, [The Shere Hite Reader] moves beyond the cliches of what pleases men and women and explores how attitudes on sex and pleasure have evolved and continue to evolve.”—Booklist
?
“Hite's work has left an indelible mark on Western civilization.”—Reuters
?
“Western society owes a debt to Shere Hite it can well nigh never repay.”—London Telegraph
?
“Her famous Hite Reports have transformed the way we look at sex and sexuality.”—Marie Claire
?
The Shere Hite Reader presents wide-ranging analysis of the individual and society from a renowned thinker on psychosexual development. The book includes new science in addition to previously published material, reflecting Hite's three decades of work probing the roots of human identity.
?
Hite discusses new research on female adolescence, challenging the “virgin” hymen concept and documenting the fact that sexual awakening often precedes puberty. For the first time, Hite formalizes her thinking on male adolescence—that boys feel tortured by the new social role they are forced to assume at puberty, which requires a show of superiority toward females. In new detail, Hite advances her understanding that sex is political, linking the expectation that women achieve orgasm through coitus with broader patterns of oppression. Hite also argues that pornography misrepresents male (not to mention female) sexuality, depicting it as singular and silly instead of “full of intriguing, nuanced behavior involving the entire body, not just the penis.”
?
While Hite has published several books in Europe over the past decade, The Shere Hite Reader represents her return to print in the United States. The authoritative collection of her work, The Shere Hite Reader challenges the reader to embrace a new way of seeing.
