cover image Good Guys, Bad Guys: The Hite Guide to Smart Choices

Good Guys, Bad Guys: The Hite Guide to Smart Choices

Shere Hite. Carroll & Graf Publishers, $18.95 (282pp) ISBN 978-0-88184-686-7

Men are the villains in this self-help guide written for women who want to improve romantic relationships. Hite ( The Hite Report on Female Sexuality ) and freelancer Colleran assert that ``the culture raises most men with destructive and negative attitudes toward women.'' The males we glimpse here, through interviews with dissatisfied females, inflict ``emotional violence'' and use ``emotional withholding'' to maintain control over partners. The authors urge women to alter their ``emotional contract'' with their partners, but forewarn that men will resist efforts to create more equitable relationships. Women involved with selfish, macho, unfeeling or emotionally distant clods will find this manual helpful. It includes advice on one-night stands, AIDS protection, date rape, being single, how to leave a bad relationship, and attachments to other women as friends or lovers. (June)