Dictionary

a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle en · X

Pronunciation

• /ə ˈwʊmən wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈmæn ɪz laɪk ə ˈfɪʃ wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈbaɪsɪkl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• /ə ˈwʊmən wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈmæn ɪz laɪk ə ˈfɪʃ wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈbaɪˌsɪkəl/ (General-American)

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. 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. 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.

Meanings

1. (figuratively, humorous, qualifier:simile) A woman is capable of living a complete and independent life without a man.
   • "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. 2014 November, Mary McHugh, Chorus Lines, Caviar, and Corpses: A Happy Hoofers Mystery, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN, page 28:
   • 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." 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:
   • 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.["] 2012, Hanne Blank, “The Marrying Type”, in Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality, Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, →ISBN:
   • 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. 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:
   • 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. 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:

Forms

Translations (15)

ko 남자 없는 여자는 자전거 없는 물고기와 같다 (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · sh žena bez muškarca je kao riba bez bicikla (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · wuu 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 (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · ro o femeie fără bărbat este ca un pește fără bicicletă (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · nl een vrouw zonder man is als een vis zonder fiets (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · pt uma mulher sem um homem é como um peixe sem uma bicicleta (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · nb en kvinne uten mann er som en fisk uten sykkel (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · pl kobieta tak potrzebuje mężczyzny, jak ryba potrzebuje roweru (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · fr une femme sans homme est comme un poisson sans bicyclette (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · fi nainen ilman miestä on kuin kala ilman polkupyörää (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · cmn 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 (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · sv en kvinna utan en man är som en fisk utan en cykel (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · it una donna senza un uomo è come un pesce senza bicicletta (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · de eine Frau ohne Mann ist wie ein Fisch ohne Fahrrad (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life) · es una mujer sin un hombre es como un pez sin bicicleta (a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life)

wikipedia: Nigel Rees · wikipedia: Swarthmore College · wikipedia: Irina Dunn · wikipedia: Gloria Steinem