[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZcikThHtAY] Highlights from Wikipedia entry: Dylan wrote "Just Like a Woman" on November 25, 1965 (Thanksgiving Day) in Kansas City while on tour. It was allegedly inspired by New York socialite Edie Sedgwick, who frequented Andy Warhol's Factory at around the same time that Dylan was introduced to Warhol. Sedgewick had a tendency to catch the attention of musicians; The Velvet Underground's Lou Reed wrote "Femme Fatale", released on 1967's The Velvet Underground & Nico album, about Sedgwick at roughly the same time.

"Just Like a Woman" has also been rumored to have been written about Dylan's relationship with fellow folk singer Joan Baez. In particular, the lines "Please don't let on that you knew me when/I was hungry and it was your world" seem to refer to the early days of their relationship, when Baez was more famous than Dylan.

The song has been criticized for supposed misogyny in its lyrics. Alan Rinzler, in his book Bob Dylan: The Illustrated Record, describes the song as "a devastating character assassination...the most sardonic, nastiest of all Dylan's putdowns of former lovers." In 1971, New York Times writer Marion Meade wrote that "there's no more complete catalogue of sexist slurs," and went on to note that in the song Dylan "defines women's natural traits as greed, hypocrisy, whining and hysteria." However, music critic Paul Williams, in his book Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Book One 1960 - 1973, has countered by pointing out that the song is sung in an affectionate tone from beginning to end. He further comments on Dylan's singing by saying that "there's never a moment in the song, despite the little digs and the confessions of pain, when you can't hear the love in his voice.