The Disappearance of Shere Hite

When the "The Hite Report" was published, my earth shook. And my outlook on life entirely flipped. For the first time, I was able to open myself to love and experience all the wonderful things which accompany that. I often wondered what happened to Shere Hite and am thankful to now know the answers. I want to thank the documentarians who made this film. It allowed me to remember the beauty of Hite's soul. Though she approached women and their sexuality with scientific precision, she revealed to women how to be happy and yes ... even playful with our partners. And she reminded us that we have every right to expect comfort, excitement and gratification in the bedroom. Hite is, and will always be, my hero.

This riveting documentary is a must see for everyone that is a human sexual being. It chronicles the rise, fall, and banishment, of author and sex researcher Shere Hite, and delves into her writing "The Hite Report" study of female sexuality, and eventually male sexuality. We follow the author as she faced backlash from men, who were uncomfortable with the truths that she discovered, as well as religious zealots who opposed anything but the men-first orthodoxy. It shows us a woman embroiled in a culture.war unfortunately nor too different from what we see today. The voice of Shere Hite, who passed away in 2020, is narrated by Dakota Johnson who deftly brings the author's words to life again.

Devastating and informative look at feminism and censorship and how the press handle women's viewpoints. I found the utter lack of respect on public television very disturbing, most of the time the people had never read her books.

The archival footage throughout and many interviews with close friends really made for a very enjoyable watch although a sad story that left me in tears at the end. It's a shame that Shere isn't alive to watch this lovely tribute to her work.

This woman deserves to be known and sadly seems as though she was erased from history. It's so fantastic that Dakota Johnson made this film; hopefully putting Shere back in the limelight.

Greetings again from the darkness. Little bits of movie trivia are always fun to learn, and this documentary throws out a doozy. I must be late to the party because I had no idea Shere Hite was the model for the Bond girls on the poster for DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971), the James Bond film starring James Bond and Jill St. John. More people surely know Shere Hite as the writer of the groundbreaking best-selling book, "The Hite Report on Female Sexuality", the 600-page tome first published in 1976 that inspired much discussion and debate.

Documentarian Nicole Newnham serves up a remarkably detailed and encompassing look at Ms. Hite and the impact of her writings and interviews. She opens with a clip from a 1976 interview author Hite gave, and inserts a clip of Hite's commentary in 1994 while re-watching her own interview nearly 20 years later. Throughout the film, we see significant archival footage of Hite appearing on talk shows and at other venues, and actress Dakota Johnson recites some of Hite's written comments and observations.

Hite faced constant criticism of her writing and was forced to defend her research at every turn. Was her questionnaire biased? Was it even scientific? The label of 'sexologist' was ridiculed by many, despite her approach of expounding on The Kinsey Report from years earlier. What began as a frowned-upon graduate school thesis, grew into a cultural phenomenon and made Shere Hite a celebrity ... something that her modeling career never did, despite posing for Playboy and numerous paperback covers for romantic novels.

Hite faced the backlash. She even appeared on Oprah's show in front of a hostile male-only audience that belittled her and tried to discredit much of her work. To her credit, Hite followed with other books, and only wore down for the criticism after many years - leading her to ultimately renounce her U. S. citizenship and move out of the country.

Regardless of one's thoughts about Hite or her writings, she sold over 20 million books, and her most popular is listed as the 30th best selling book of all-time. She was certainly a trail blazer and inspired discussion and debate on what had been a previously taboo topic. Newnham's documentary provides a fitting retrospective to the late Shere Hite.

The Disappearance of Shere Hite is a powerful documentary. Following Shere's life journey was interesting, and I appreciate all that she's done for women. The documentary was fantastically made. It featured fascinating interviews, lovely music, cool retro footage, and creative narration. In addition, the film flowed smoothly and was easy to understand. Despite it being nearly 2 hours long, I was hooked throughout and did not lose interest. My favorite thing, however, is the message. The documentary was truly empowering to me, and it will remain close to my heart. I definitely recommend giving it a watch!