"A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." According to Gloria Steinem, Irina Dunn,Australian educator, journalist and politician, coined the phrase 1970 as a student at the University of Sydney, paraphrasing the old maxim, 'Man needs God like a fish needs a bicycle.' 
Irina Dunn concurs: "I scribbled the phrase on 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, were already favoured graffiti sites."
'A needs a B like a C needs a D' was well-established. The Hartford Courant, December, 1898: "[Aragon, Spain] didn't need an American consul any more than a cow needs a bicycle; for it had no trade with America, and no American tourist ever dreamed of stopping there."
Or The Detroit Free Press, October, 1906: "The house didn't need a fire then any more than a horse needs a shave." Irina Dunn's pithy re-wording is certainly a worthy and memorable addition to the 'A needs B like C needs D' syllogism. phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-wom…
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