a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle

English

WOTD – 8 March 2021

Etymology

A well-known feminist slogan coined in 1970 by the Australian filmmaker, social activist, and writer Irina Dunn (born 1948); according to her recollection, adapted from the phrase “A man needs God like a fish needs a bicycle” which she read in a philosophical text.^[1] The original phrase appears to be “A man without faith is like a fish without a bicycle”, coined by Charles S. Harris in 1955 and published in a 1958 article in the Swarthmore Phoenix.^[2] The phrase is often erroneously attributed to the American feminist journalist and social political activist Gloria Steinem (born 1934), but she disclaimed this in a letter to Time magazine published on 16 September 2000.^[3]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə ˈwʊmən wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈmæn ɪz laɪk ə ˈfɪʃ wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈbaɪsɪkl̩/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ə ˈwʊmən wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈmæn ɪz laɪk ə ˈfɪʃ wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈbaɪˌsɪkəl/
Audio (US): (file)
Hyphenation: a wo‧man with‧out a man is like a fish with‧out a bi‧cyc‧le

Phrase

a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle

(figuratively, humorous, simile) A woman is capable of living a complete and independent life without a man. [from 1970]
- 1975 January 25, “Column 8”, in The Sydney Morning Herald, number 42,779, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Fairfax & Sons, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1, column 8:
  We found this anonymous contribution to International Women's Year on a wall at Forest Lodge: "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle."
  Apparently the first appearance of the phrase in print.
- 1990, Jane Adams, Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty: How to Live Happily Ever After—Starting Right Now, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, page 107:
  No matter how hip or how liberated I got to be, I could never really convince my deepest self that a woman without a man, at least when the music started, was like a fish without a bicycle.
- 2009, Wesley L. Ford, “Safe Conduct: Guidelines for an Affair of the Heart”, in How to Pick a Lover: For Women Who Want to Win at Love, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 359:
  Women who are ideologically opposed to marriage would go along with Gloria Steinem's^[sic] commonly quoted maxim: "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle." If, whatever your reasons, you are adamantly not the marrying kind, then it is important for you to make that clear to any man who becomes involved with you.
- 2012, Hanne Blank, “The Marrying Type”, in Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality, Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, →ISBN:
  By 1962, well before the so-called "sexual revolution" or even the feminist slogan "a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle," Helen Gurley Brown could write in Sex and the Single Girl, "I think marriage is insurance for the worst years of your life.["]
- 2014 November, Mary McHugh, Chorus Lines, Caviar, and Corpses: A Happy Hoofers Mystery, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN, page 28:
  "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle," I said. "One of these days you're going to want another bicycle," she said, laughing.

Alternative forms

a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle

Translations

a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Chinese:
Cantonese: please add this translation if you can

Hakka: please add this translation if you can

Hokkien: please add this translation if you can

Mandarin: 沒有男人的女人就像沒有自行車的魚 / 没有男人的女人就像没有自行车的鱼 (méiyǒu nánren de nǚrén jiùxiàng méiyǒu zìxíngchē de yú)

Wu: 嘸沒男人個女人赛过嘸沒腳踏車個魚 / 呒没男人个女人赛过呒没脚踏车个鱼
Czech: please add this translation if you can
Danish: please add this translation if you can
Dutch: een vrouw zonder man is als een vis zonder fiets
Finnish: nainen ilman miestä on kuin kala ilman polkupyörää
French: une femme sans homme est comme un poisson sans bicyclette
German: eine Frau ohne Mann ist wie ein Fisch ohne Fahrrad
Greek: literal translation if quoting the English phrase
Hindi: please add this translation if you can
Italian: una donna senza un uomo è come un pesce senza bicicletta
Japanese: please add this translation if you can
Korean: 남자 없는 여자는 자전거 없는 물고기와 같다 (namja eomneun yeoja-neun jajeon'geo eomneun mulgogi-wa gatda)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: en kvinne uten mann er som en fisk uten sykkel

Nynorsk: please add this translation if you can
Persian: please add this translation if you can
Polish: kobieta tak potrzebuje mężczyzny, jak ryba potrzebuje roweru
Portuguese: uma mulher sem um homem é como um peixe sem uma bicicleta
Romanian: o femeie fără bărbat este ca un pește fără bicicletă
Russian: женщина без мужчины — всё равно что рыба без велосипеда (ženščina bez mužčiny — vsjo ravno što ryba bez velosipeda), женщина без мужчины — всё равно что рыбка без зонтика (ženščina bez mužčiny — vsjo ravno što rybka bez zontika)
Serbo-Croatian: žena bez muškarca je kao riba bez bicikla (idiom)
Spanish: una mujer sin un hombre es como un pez sin bicicleta
Swedish: en kvinna utan en man är som en fisk utan en cykel
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

References

^ Confirmed in an e-mail from Dunn dated 28 January 2002: see John S. Allen (2000–2001) “A Bit of Herstory: The Definitive Word on the Origin!”, in The Fish and Bicycle Page: Exploring Some (Fast?) Eddies in the Stream of American Culture‎^[1], archived from the original on 2 October 2002.
^ Roccatorso [pseudonym; Charles S. Harris] (1958 April 7) “Quote”, in The Swarthmore Phoenix: Student Newspaper of Swarthmore College, volume 78, number 20 (indicated as 18), Swarthmore, Pa.: Students of Swarthmore College, →OCLC, page 2, column 3: see Nigel Rees, compiler (2001) Cassell’s Humorous Quotations, London: Cassell, →ISBN, pages 459–460; and Garson O’Toole (2016 October 18) “A Woman Without a Man is Like a Fish Without a Bicycle”, in Quote Investigator‎^[2], retrieved 20 February 2021.
^ Gary Martin (1997–) “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle”, in The Phrase Finder.

[1] Confirmed in an e-mail from Dunn dated 28 January 2002: see John S. Allen (2000–2001) “A Bit of Herstory: The Definitive Word on the Origin!”, in The Fish and Bicycle Page: Exploring Some (Fast?) Eddies in the Stream of American Culture‎^[1], archived from the original on 2 October 2002.

[2] Roccatorso [pseudonym; Charles S. Harris] (1958 April 7) “Quote”, in The Swarthmore Phoenix: Student Newspaper of Swarthmore College, volume 78, number 20 (indicated as 18), Swarthmore, Pa.: Students of Swarthmore College, →OCLC, page 2, column 3: see Nigel Rees, compiler (2001) Cassell’s Humorous Quotations, London: Cassell, →ISBN, pages 459–460; and Garson O’Toole (2016 October 18) “A Woman Without a Man is Like a Fish Without a Bicycle”, in Quote Investigator‎^[2], retrieved 20 February 2021.

[3] Gary Martin (1997–) “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle”, in The Phrase Finder.

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