***** 'Why dost thou steal along so timidly in the twilight, Zarathustra? And what dost thou hide so carefully under thy mantle?
'Is it a treasure which has been given thee? or a child which has been born to thee? Or dost thou now go on a thief's errand, thou friend of the wicked?'
'Verily, my brother,' said Zarathustra, 'it is a treasure which has been given me; it is a little truth which I carry.
'But it is naughty, like a baby; and when I do not hold its mouth it cries too loud.
'Today, as I went on my way alone, at the time the sun goes down, an old girl met me, and spake thus to my soul:
'"Much has Zarathustra spoken to us women, but never has he spoken to us about women."
'And I answered her: "One should only speak to men about women."
'"Speak also to me of woman," said she; "I am old enough to forget it again immediately."
'And I complied with the old girl's request, and spake thus to her:
'"Everything in woman is a riddle, and everything in woman has one solution -- namely, pregnancy.
'"Man is for woman a means; the purpose is always the child. But what is woman for man?
'"The true man wants two different things: danger and diversion. He therefore wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.
'"Man must be trained for war, and woman for the relaxation of the warrior; all else is folly.
'"Too sweet fruits -- these the warrior does not like. He therefore likes woman -- even the sweetest woman is bitter.
'"Woman understands children better than man does, but man is more childish than woman.
'"In the true man there is a child hidden; it wants to play. Up then, ye women, discover, I pray you, the child in man!
'"Let woman be a pastime-object, divine and fine like the precious stone, illumined with the virtues of a world not yet dawned.
'"May the beam of a star shine in your love! Let your hope be -- 'may I bear the overman!'
'"May there be valour in your love! Ye must attack with your love him who inspires you with fear!
'"Let your honour be in your love! Woman understands little about honour otherwise. But let this be your honour: always to love more than ye are loved, and never be the second.
'"Let man be afraid of woman when she loves: she then makes every sacrifice, and regards everything else as worthless.
'"Let man be afraid of woman when she hates; for man is merely evil in his innermost soul: woman, however, is bad there.
'"Whom does woman hate most? Thus spake the iron to the magnet: 'I hate thee most, becaue thou attractest, but art not strong enough to pull to thee.'
'"The happiness of man is: 'I will.' The happiness of woman is: 'He will.'
'"'Lo, the world has now become perfect!' -- thus thinks every woman when she obeys with all her love.
'"And woman must obey and find a depth for her surface. Woman's nature is surface, an unstable, stormy film on a shallow water.
'"Man's nature, however, is deep, its current gushes in subterranean caverns; woman conjectures its power, but does not comprehend it."
'Here the old girl replied to me: "Many pretty things has Zarathustra said, especially for those who are young enough for them.
'"It is strange! Zarathustra knows little about women, and yet he is right with regard to them. Does that happen because nothing is impossible with women?
'"And now accept a little truth by way of thanks! I am surely old enough for it!
'"Swaddle it up and hold its mouth, otherwise it will cry too loud, the little truth."
'"Give me thy little truth," said I. And thus spake the old girl:
'"Thou goest to women? Do not forget thy whip!"'
Thus spake Zarathustra. *****
Is it any wonder that Lou Salome (whose motto was "dare everything, need nothing") rejected Nietzsche's marriage proposal? Anyhow, Nietzsche's ambivalence toward women is strongly shaped by the double edge of sexism: if women's essence is to be their maternity (as it is in sexist discourse), then men must suspect that they may be secondary to children in women's priority (if women are to follow the dictates of sexist society). Further, men may very well fear that "man is for woman a means; the purpose is always the child," as Nietzsche puts it. Thus, the dehumanization of women issues in the dehumanization of men as well. Such is the dialectic of sexism. Since sexist men cannot fully admit that they have become themselves victims of sexism, they seek acceptance either as little boys whose "play" must be indulged by loving women or as dictators whose whips are worshipped by women. Or perhaps little dictators with toy whips.
Zarathustra unwittingly betrays the nature of men's "little truth": it's infantile.
evolveanglerfish,
Yoshie