“Women are considered deep – why? Because one can never discover any bottom to them. Women are not even shallow.”
- October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900
- Born in Germany
- Philosopher, poet, and classical philologist
- With works such as “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” “Beyond Good and Evil,” and “The Genealogy of Morals,” he questioned traditional morality, religion, and truth, and had a major impact on modern philosophy.
Quote
“Women are considered deep – why? Because one can never discover any bottom to them. Women are not even shallow.”
Explanation
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche humorously critiques the way society views women and their perceived mystery. Nietzsche suggests that women are often considered “deep” or enigmatic not because they possess profound wisdom or complexity, but because others are unable to fully understand or categorize them. The inability to find a “bottom” to women’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviors leads people to label them as deep, though Nietzsche’s further comment—”women are not even shallow”—suggests that this perception is based on a misunderstanding or misattribution of depth. Instead of being genuinely profound or complex, women are seen as elusive or unknowable, which is mistaken for depth. Nietzsche’s statement calls attention to the way that women, like all people, are often misinterpreted or oversimplified by societal expectations.
Historically, Nietzsche’s comments reflect the gender biases and stereotypes of his time, where women were often idealized or mystified rather than understood as fully complex individuals. Women were frequently subject to being cast in archetypal roles—whether as mysterious and otherworldly or as objects of romantic idealization. Nietzsche here critiques these stereotypes, challenging the idea that women’s mystique should be automatically equated with intellectual or emotional depth. Rather than accepting women’s behavior as naturally complex, Nietzsche suggests that the idea of women being “deep” is a projection based on uncertainty and mystification.
In modern contexts, this quote can be applied to how gender roles and expectations continue to shape the way women are perceived and understood in society. Women are still often seen through a lens of idealization or romanticization, which can obscure their true individuality and prevent people from seeing them as fully complex human beings with their own unique experiences, thoughts, and perspectives. Nietzsche’s words encourage us to move beyond stereotypical perceptions and to engage with women—and with all individuals—on a more authentic, individualized level, free from the imposition of idealized or oversimplified labels.
