Meanings
alternative a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle
- figurativelyhumoroussimileA woman is capable of living a complete and independent life without a man.First known use 1970
"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 284 more examples
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 8No 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 107Women 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 359By 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
Origin
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.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese 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
- 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)a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Dutch een vrouw zonder man is als een vis zonder fiets
- een vrouw zonder man is als een vis zonder fietsa woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Finnish nainen ilman miestä on kuin kala ilman polkupyörää
- nainen ilman miestä on kuin kala ilman polkupyörääa woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
French une femme sans homme est comme un poisson sans bicyclette
- une femme sans homme est comme un poisson sans bicyclettea woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
German eine Frau ohne Mann ist wie ein Fisch ohne Fahrrad
- eine Frau ohne Mann ist wie ein Fisch ohne Fahrrada woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Italian una donna senza un uomo è come un pesce senza bicicletta
- una donna senza un uomo è come un pesce senza biciclettaa woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Korean 남자 없는 여자는 자전거 없는 물고기와 같다
- 남자 없는 여자는 자전거 없는 물고기와 같다 (namja eomneun yeoja-neun jajeon'geo eomneun mulgogi-wa gatda)a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Norwegian Bokmål en kvinne uten mann er som en fisk uten sykkel
- en kvinne uten mann er som en fisk uten sykkela woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Polish kobieta tak potrzebuje mężczyzny, jak ryba potrzebuje roweru
- kobieta tak potrzebuje mężczyzny, jak ryba potrzebuje rowerua woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Portuguese uma mulher sem um homem é como um peixe sem uma bicicleta
- uma mulher sem um homem é como um peixe sem uma bicicletaa woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Romanian o femeie fără bărbat este ca un pește fără bicicletă
- o femeie fără bărbat este ca un pește fără bicicletăa woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Spanish una mujer sin un hombre es como un pez sin bicicleta
- una mujer sin un hombre es como un pez sin bicicletaa woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Swedish en kvinna utan en man är som en fisk utan en cykel
- en kvinna utan en man är som en fisk utan en cykela woman is capable of living a complete and independent life
Cite this entry
a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a%20woman%20without%20a%20man%20is%20like%20a%20fish%20without%20a%20bicycle
“a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a%20woman%20without%20a%20man%20is%20like%20a%20fish%20without%20a%20bicycle. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a%20woman%20without%20a%20man%20is%20like%20a%20fish%20without%20a%20bicycle.
Source: a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.