The New York Times wrote that the first women to attend Yale were “the female versions of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Uebermensch.” Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?

The New York Times wrote that the first women to attend Yale were “the female versions of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Uebermensch.” Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?

Yes, in a way they were the Superwomen on campus. They had no choice but to be beyond -women, with astounding powers to cope with the constant harassment of the male population in the style of Friedrich Nietzsche. The women had to have the attributes of self-determination, creativity, overcoming discontent, flexibility, self-confidence, and courage.

What a contemptible statement. Some situations require strong women and some situations require strong men.

While it was amazing for the first 250 women to be admitted to Yale, calling them out as "superwomen" in some ways minimizes the achievements of all the young women who were already attending college (managing homes, working)- -each of whom may have been breaking barriers in her own way. That deserves to be honored.

In another post, a commenter talked about the women heroes throughout the pandemic-mothers who were working and teaching their children, mothers who were managing the home and teaching their children, all the mothers working in our hospitals and health care positions and teaching their children... I think all of us have the potential to be Superwomen. But we don't need to be patronized with a cute, little nickname. We need to be respected for the effort we make each day.

It's too bad that as a society we are expected to be Supermen or Superwomen- -which to me implies that we don't need any help or support- -and if we did, somehow that makes us weak. If we offered support, encouragement, and a sense of belonging to begin with, I think it would be so much easier for all of us to thrive in our unique situations.

I don't agree with the statement. These were not superwomen. They were young women wanting a good education. Some of them performed better in the system than others. But many of the did ultimately go on to careers where they were leaders. I thing that, in part, was a reflections of what they experienced on the Yale Campus in those early years of admitting women.

To the extent they were looking for women who were strong enough to handle being included among Yale's first women students, I can see where the Times would use a word like Ubermensch to describe them. They should be applauded for the strength, but as mentioned in some of the earlier responses, there are strong people all around us. I read the Times' comment as intended to compliment these women. I did not take it as a slap in the face to all of the unsung heroes who stories are never publicized in a book like this, but I definitely understand the sentiments expressed in some of the other answers to this question.