"A woman without a man" proverb

[Mary Jane]

a philosophical text
> I was reading for my Honours year in English Literature
> and Language in 1970. It was "A man needs God like a
> fish needs a bicycle".

[a question is begging....]


----- Original Message -----
From: "Joanne M. Despres" <jdespres at MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2003 12:35 PM
Subject: Re: "A woman without a man" proverb


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joanne M. Despres" <jdespres at MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "A woman without a man" proverb
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
> <color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>Here is an account of Gloria Steinem's
phrase history excerpted
> from
> http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/3255/herstory.htm
>
>
> <center><bold><FontFamily><param>Times New
Roman</param><bigger><bigger><bigger><bigger>A bit of herstory:
> the definitive word on the origin!</center>
>
> </bold><smaller><smaller><smaller>The letter below, from famed feminist
Gloria Steinem, appeared
> in <italic>Time</italic> magazine sometime in September or October 2000.
>
> <paraindent><param>left</param>In your note on my new and happy marital
partnership
> with David Bale, you credit me with the witticism 'A
> woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.' In fact,
> Irina Dunn, a distinguished Australian educator,
> journalist and politician, coined the phrase back in 1970
> when she was a student at the University of Sydney. She
> paraphrased the philosopher who said, "Man needs God
> like fish needs a bicycle." Dunn deserves credit for
> creating such a popular and durable spoof of the old
> idea that women need men more than vice versa. </paraindent>
>
> <paraindent><param>left</param><flushright>Gloria
Steinem</paraindent></flushright>
>
> Irina Dunn has confirmed this story, in an e-mail of January 28,
> 2002:
>
> <paraindent><param>left</param>Yes, indeed, I am the one Gloria referred
to. I was
> paraphrasing from a phrase I read in a philosophical text
> I was reading for my Honours year in English Literature
> and Language in 1970. It was "A man needs God like a
> fish needs a bicycle". My inspiration arose from being
> involved in the renascent women's movement at the time,
> and from being a bit if a smart-arse. I scribbled the
> phrase on the backs of two toilet doors, would you
> believe, one at Sydney University where I was a student,
> and the other at Soren's Wine Bar at Woolloomooloo, a
> seedy suburb in south Sydney. The doors, I have to
> add, were already favoured graffiti sites. </paraindent>
>
>
> <nofill>
>