Random Male Hite Report #2
It's time for another edition of random Hite Report: Male Edition. As you know, this is where I flip to a random page in the 1981 Hite Report on Male Sexuality by Shere Hite and simply copy that one page and that one page only into this blog. There are more of these randoms from both the male and female reports HERE.
p. 77 The Hite Report on Male Sexuality by Shere Hite
Alfred A. Knoff. NY. 1981
On the question: Are definitions of masculinity changing according to age or socioeconomic status? (appearing together with the persons own biographical information.)
...the time we were nine or ten. We are WASP. I believe that because of the work ethic we are all very independent. Now two of my four children have divorced. I worry that I did not give them adequate foundation for judging, or that I have misguided them in some way.
"I am succesful-I did not achieve what I thought I would, but I am better off as I am. For instance, I always thought I would wind up as a V.P. of the company I worked for for twenty-five years. However, I was bypassed, so I became a consultant and am now much happier than I would have been had I been made President.
"I believe masculinity has to do with presence, confidence, strength (not necessarily physical), and voice. It's hard to define. I'm happy to be masculine. Macho in the sense being used today means too much of having to prove yourself-to be a daredevil."
"Sixty-one, iron worker, Protestant. Male means not being wishy-washy. Macho means appearing virile, sexy to others."
"Sixty-three, Jewish, retired (social security), high school graduate. I am very disgusted and unhappy. I don't understand about being a man.
"I am sixty-nine. I was in business at the executive level in accounting, finance, and top management. My upbringing was relaxed and happy, middle class. I have deep religious feelings, but no ties to organized religion.
"Masculinity means you have a solid grasp of reality and the capacity to handle it with good judgement. A strong sense of responsibility. Decisiveness. Open-mindedness. A sense of fair play. A lively sense of humor and an ability to laugh at oneself. 'Macho' is an aberration of masculinity, which, happily, I've avoided."
"Age seventy-one. Degrees in mechanical engineering and management. Presbyterian. I still look good. My biggest problem: the U.S. Government is 1. Robbing me of my life savings and earnings by causing prices to increase (inflation), and 2. Not maintaining a strong military defence force.
"A man should earn a good income and be a good provider and protector of women and his children. I am proud of what masculinity I have."
"Seventy-three, professional, doctorate from a leading eastern university, reared in an upper-middle-class home with all the comforts, Jewish, not religious, yet with a strong ethnic loyalty.
" I consider myself masculine in appearance, temperament, and manner. I am outgoing, independent, scholarly, intelligent, outspoken. I am not a 'macho' type, being too slight in build, obviously intellectual in appearance, and too interested in books, art, and music. I am highly verbal, and rather sensitive to others, even intuitive (when not personally involved), and not physically as brave as I'd like to be.
"The qualities I admire most in men are physical and moral courage, originality, initiative, a fair amount of aggressiveness, leadership, a sense of humor,...