The Hite Report

Featuring a new foreword by the author, this is the classic feminist analysis of sex that galvanized a cultural revolution. Originally published in 1976, The Hite Report revealed the most intimate sexual feelings of 3,000 women: what they like and don't like; how orgasm really feels, with and without intercourse; how it feels to not have an orgasm during sex; the importance of clitoral stimulation and masturbation; and the greatest pleasures and frustrations of their sexual lives. The most shocking revelation was that orgasm is simply and easily achieved with the right stimulation, and that sex is a cultural institution - not just a biological one. Hite explains in her introduction that while society has in theory made great strides with regard to female sexuality since the book's first edition, the dissatisfactions with their sex lives some women voice today are reminiscent of the issues raised in the 1970s..

Shere Hite is visiting professor of gender and culture at Nihon University in Japan and professor of the American Academy of Maimonides University in the U.S.