--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A woman without a man is like a fish…" description: "\"A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.\" — Gloria Steinem" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/gloria-steinem-277_quote_a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-wit_1171208.jpg" --- # A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. ![“A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/gloria-steinem-277_quote_a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-wit_1171208.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/gloria-steinem-277_quote_a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-wit_1171208.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/gloria-steinem-277_quote_a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-wit_1171208.jpg) > “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A woman’s independence is absurdly compared to a nonsensical need, highlighting the absurdity of patriarchal constraints. **In simple terms:** Women don’t need men like fish need bicycles. Key Takeaway Reject limiting gender stereotypes. Themes feminism independence absurdity Mood defiant humorous Type feminist satirical When to use this quote - workplace equality - media representation - personal relationships Key Concepts gender studies social critique Questions to Reflect On - How does this metaphor challenge traditional gender roles? - What alternatives to partnership exist? A Different Perspective Some may view the metaphor as dismissive of partnership value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bicycle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bicycle/) [Woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman/) ## Related quotes > [“A life without passion is like a fish without a bicycle in a parallel universe where fish ride bicycles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-morrison/a-life-without-passion-is-like-a-fish-without-a-bicycle-in-a-parallel/) Zach Morrison > [“A man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-bloch/a-man-without-religion-is-like-a-fish-without-a-bicycle/) [Arthur Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-bloch/) > [“A bumper sticker from the 1970s read, “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/a-bumper-sticker-from-the-1970s-read-a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Scotch needs water like a fish needs a bicycle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/scotch-needs-water-like-a-fish-needs-a-bicycle/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." I really hate this expression. I bet fish would totally want bicycles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/a-woman-needs-a-man-like-a-fish-needs-a-bicycle-i-really-hate-this/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [Like a fish needs a bicycle. A goldfish riding a bicycle underwater. I need a man like a fish needs a bicycle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irina-dunn/like-a-fish-needs-a-bicycle-a-goldfish-riding-a-bicycle-underwater-i/) Irina Dunn > [Given the expectations of society at large, men are generally correct in their assumption that it is important for a woman to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/given-the-expectations-of-society-at-large-men-are-generally-correct/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“There is every board minded man behind the success of woman. But when that man is in legal relation then a woman can triumph…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agha-kousar/there-is-every-board-minded-man-behind-the-success-of-woman-but-when/) Agha Kousar > [You see, dear, it is not true that woman was made from man's rib; she was really made from his funny bone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-matthew-barrie/you-see-dear-it-is-not-true-that-woman-was-made-from-man-s-rib-she/) [James Matthew Barrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-matthew-barrie/) > [My mum is deeply, deeply a man's woman, a man's muse. Maybe because I'm a kid from the '80s, I'm a bit more dominant.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-doillon/my-mum-is-deeply-deeply-a-man-s-woman-a-man-s-muse-maybe-because-i-m/) [Lou Doillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-doillon/) > [I am like the fish in the aquarium, thinking in a different language, adapting to a life that’s not my natural habitat. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-am-like-the-fish-in-the-aquarium-thinking-in-a-different-language/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [I like to fish. Fishing is always a way of relaxing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-felton/i-like-to-fish-fishing-is-always-a-way-of-relaxing/) [Tom Felton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-felton/) > [We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/we-have-learned-to-fly-the-air-like-birds-and-swim-the-sea-like-fish/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“They're not people at all, they're graduate students, there's a difference. They fuck like bunnies and drink like fish and stay up late worrying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-canty/they-re-not-people-at-all-they-re-graduate-students-there-s-a/) [Kevin Canty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-canty/) > [Twinkle twinkle little whore, close them legs, they smell like fish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/racheey-babbeess/twinkle-twinkle-little-whore-close-them-legs-they-smell-like-fish/) Racheey Babbeess ## More by Gloria Steinem > [People waste more time waiting for someone to take charge of their lives than they do in any other pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/people-waste-more-time-waiting-for-someone-to-take-charge-of-their/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Nothing will happen automatically. Change depends on what you and I do every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/nothing-will-happen-automatically-change-depends-on-what-you-and-i-do/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Women are never again going to be mindless coffee-makers or mindless policy-makers in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-are-never-again-going-to-be-mindless-coffee-makers-or-mindless/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I started out life as a writer, and writers write in part because they don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-started-out-life-as-a-writer-and-writers-write-in-part-because-they/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Sadomasochiasm - which we know very well doesn't exist in societies that don't have child abuse - is regarded some sort of natural sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/sadomasochiasm-which-we-know-very-well-doesn-t-exist-in-societies/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Behave like everything you do matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/behave-like-everything-you-do-matters/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Part of traveling over years means coming back to the same place and knowing it for the first time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/part-of-traveling-over-years-means-coming-back-to-the-same-place-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [If you say, I'm for equal pay, that's a reform. But if you say. I'm a feminist, that's a transformation of society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-you-say-i-m-for-equal-pay-that-s-a-reform-but-if-you-say-i-m-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I think that part of everybody's success is due to their looks, but it just works in different ways. If you're whatever society calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-think-that-part-of-everybody-s-success-is-due-to-their-looks-but-it/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Of course, we can change. We're very adaptable. But it takes a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/of-course-we-can-change-we-re-very-adaptable-but-it-takes-a-while/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) [Explore all 766 Gloria Steinem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More Bicycle quotes > [I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel...the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/i-stand-and-rejoice-every-time-i-see-a-woman-ride-by-on-a-wheel-the/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [Can you understand why the Congress, most states and most cities refuse to pass legislation requiring the registration and licensing of any and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/can-you-understand-why-the-congress-most-states-and-most-cities/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [My father had Parkinson's, though he actually died following a bicycle accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kt-tunstall/my-father-had-parkinson-s-though-he-actually-died-following-a-bicycle/) [KT Tunstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kt-tunstall/) > [At that age, it's one of the worse things in the world to wake up and not see your bike where you left it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-jackson/at-that-age-it-s-one-of-the-worse-things-in-the-world-to-wake-up-and/) [Curtis Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-jackson/) > [I think if I got a bicycle from my father, I should give a car to my son.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/i-think-if-i-got-a-bicycle-from-my-father-i-should-give-a-car-to-my/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [Life is like a bicycle; keep moving on to maintain balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/life-is-like-a-bicycle-keep-moving-on-to-maintain-balance/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [It has been explained to me that toys are packaged in shards, to be assembled by the middle-aged and butter-fingered, because this makes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-kerr/it-has-been-explained-to-me-that-toys-are-packaged-in-shards-to-be/) [Jean Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-kerr/) > [I simply want to celebrate the fact that right near your home, year in and year out, a community college is quietly - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-ryan/i-simply-want-to-celebrate-the-fact-that-right-near-your-home-year-in/) [Kay Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-ryan/) > [Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/let-me-tell-you-what-i-think-of-bicycling-i-think-it-has-done-more-to/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [If we’re going to talk about transport, I would say that the great city is not the one that has highways, but one where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrique-penalosa/if-we-re-going-to-talk-about-transport-i-would-say-that-the-great/) [Enrique Penalosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrique-penalosa/) > [Like a fish needs a bicycle. A goldfish riding a bicycle underwater. I need a man like a fish needs a bicycle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irina-dunn/like-a-fish-needs-a-bicycle-a-goldfish-riding-a-bicycle-underwater-i/) Irina Dunn > [Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-like-riding-a-bicycle-to-keep-your-balance-you-must-keep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I love a bicycle, and I haven't been without at least one since I was three years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-may/i-love-a-bicycle-and-i-haven-t-been-without-at-least-one-since-i-was/) [James May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-may/) > [ Rose: Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas! The Doctor: Who says I'm not, red-bicycle-when-you-were-twelve? Rose: \[shocked\] What? The Doctor: And everybody… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-moffat/rose-look-at-you-beaming-away-like-you-re-father-christmas-the-doctor/) [Steven Moffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-moffat/) > [Life is like riding a bicycle: you don't fall off unless you stop pedaling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-pepper/life-is-like-riding-a-bicycle-you-don-t-fall-off-unless-you-stop/) [Claude Pepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-pepper/) [Browse all 531 Bicycle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bicycle/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gloria Steinem" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-without-a-bicycle/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bicycle" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-without-a-bicycle/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/gloria-steinem-277_quote_a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-wit_1171208.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/gloria-steinem-277_quote_a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-wit_1171208.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/gloria-steinem-277_quote_a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-wit_1171208.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” — Gloria Steinem", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gloria Steinem", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A woman without a man is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-without-a-bicycle/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/a-woman-without-a-man-is-like-a-fish-without-a-bicycle/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```