On Zarathustra's Comment

Two Women Chatting By the Sea, St. Thomas
Camille Pissarro

When asked about the Zarathustra's comment on women - "The happiness of a man is: I will. The happiness of a woman is: he wills"- , she said:

... I am not outraged at all. If Nietzsche meant by his “women” a “Universal Woman”, I will have to disagree. But I also understand that he was making those comments based on his observation of most women around him in 19th century Europe. Actually, if you look at ‘women’ of this century, for instance here in Korea, how many of them can you actually say would make an exception to what Zarathustra said? Not so many. [...] I’ve observed many contemporary individuals of my own sex who professedly are “independent” and “enlightened” – and what is their notion of “independence” and “enlightenment”? To buy Chanel bags and to consume various equipments to look beautiful… to what end? To look sufficiently respectable and competitive among her own sex and to get a decent male partner… Isn’t this de facto in line with “He wills”? As for many of our contemporary Korean males on the other hand, Zarathustra would have said: “My mother wills”. Food for thought (+ laugh).

So, I was sitting there in the office, nodding and smiling. Thinking, Oh, how I've longed for this small, affirmative gesture.