Inarguably one of the biggest highlights this year among the documentaries
playing at the Sundance Film Festival is The Disappearance of Shere Hite.
Filmmaker Nicole Newnham’s detailed reading of an enigmatic woman opens up
the space to accommodate multitudes of cultural, feminist discourse. It is
only fair that Newnham chooses to be fairly traditional and straightforward
with the phenomenon that is her subject; Shere Hite is a figure who doesn’t
need any of those stylized cinematic liberty.Shere Hite first emerged with her revolutionary 1976 book, The Hite Report
on Female Sexuality, that was compiled over three thousand responses on
questions pertaining to orgasm, sexuality, penetration and desire in ways
that were not spoken about before. It catapulted her to celebrity status,
even as she was earning as a model for magazine covers. The attention then
resulted into her next book, The Hite Report on Men and Men’s Sexuality.
With fame came the infuriating amounts of public mansplaining,
inappropriate and offensive associations with her as a ‘sex expert’ who
apparently hated men.
playing at the Sundance Film Festival is The Disappearance of Shere Hite.
Filmmaker Nicole Newnham’s detailed reading of an enigmatic woman opens up
the space to accommodate multitudes of cultural, feminist discourse. It is
only fair that Newnham chooses to be fairly traditional and straightforward
with the phenomenon that is her subject; Shere Hite is a figure who doesn’t
need any of those stylized cinematic liberty.Shere Hite first emerged with her revolutionary 1976 book, The Hite Report
on Female Sexuality, that was compiled over three thousand responses on
questions pertaining to orgasm, sexuality, penetration and desire in ways
that were not spoken about before. It catapulted her to celebrity status,
even as she was earning as a model for magazine covers. The attention then
resulted into her next book, The Hite Report on Men and Men’s Sexuality.
With fame came the infuriating amounts of public mansplaining,
inappropriate and offensive associations with her as a ‘sex expert’ who
apparently hated men.
As Newnham carefully tracks her public appearances from archival footage on
American chat shows, and interviews, one sees the discomfiting effect it
had on Shere because of the constant drudgery of societal misogyny and
chauvinism. Here was a woman who was attacked for her work and intellect,
day after day. A later scene arrives where a young Oprah Winfrey is shocked
to see the way in which an all-male audience reacts to Shere’s body of
work. Her reaction, combined with Shere’s all-too-well look in that moment,
are enough to prove the point.
