--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: men have their cake and get to eat it…" description: "\"men have their cake and get to eat it too, for while they decree themselves as representative of humanity, women who argue that men are not, are simply..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/dale-spender-23574_arguing_men-have-their-cake-and-get-to-eat-it-to_1343991.png" --- # men have their cake and get to eat it too, for while they… ![“men have their cake and get to eat it too, for while they decree themselves as representative of humanity, women who argue that men are not, are simply showing how little they know! And when men's standards are defined as human standards, then women who assert that women are different, demonstrate…” quote by Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/dale-spender-23574_arguing_men-have-their-cake-and-get-to-eat-it-to_1343991.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/dale-spender-23574_arguing_men-have-their-cake-and-get-to-eat-it-to_1343991.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/dale-spender-23574_arguing_men-have-their-cake-and-get-to-eat-it-to_1343991.png) > “men have their cake and get to eat it too, for while they decree themselves as representative of humanity, women who argue that men are not, are simply showing how little they know! And when men's standards are defined as human standards, then women who assert that women are different, demonstrate how 'inhuman' they are. It is a real 'Catch 22.” [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that men claim universal representation while dismissing women’s differing perspectives, creating a paradox where women are labeled as “inhuman” for asserting difference. **In simple terms:** Men claim to speak for all, but label women who differ as wrong. Key Takeaway Recognize and respect diverse viewpoints. Themes gender equality representation paradox power dynamics Mood critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political debates - workplace policies - educational curricula - media representation Key Concepts essentialism social construction identity politics Questions to Reflect On - How does labeling dissent as “inhuman” affect dialogue? - What ways can inclusive representation be achieved? A Different Perspective The argument oversimplifies complex gender relations and may ignore intersecting identities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arguing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arguing/) [Assert Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assert-women-4126021/) [Cake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cake/) [Decree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decree/) [Defined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defined/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Human Standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-standards-4549235/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Inhuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inhuman/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-standards-4549234/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Representatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/representatives/) [Sexism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexism/) [Standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standards/) [Standards Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standards-women-1741716/) [Women 's rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-s-rights/) [Women Assert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-assert-4549236/) ## Related quotes > [Let not men then in the pride of power, use the same arguments that tyrannic kings and venal ministers have used, and fallaciously assert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-not-men-then-in-the-pride-of-power-use-the-same-arguments-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And the first commandment of feminism is: I am woman; thou shalt not tolerate strange gods who assert that women have capabilities or often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-schlafly/and-the-first-commandment-of-feminism-is-i-am-woman-thou-shalt-not/) [Phyllis Schlafly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-schlafly/) > [In my opinion, you keep the standards very high and you maintain one standard. There shouldn't be two standards for women and men, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mj-hegar/in-my-opinion-you-keep-the-standards-very-high-and-you-maintain-one/) [MJ Hegar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mj-hegar/) > [The thing that actually makes a guy settle down is when a woman comes along who has a different set of standards than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-hussey/the-thing-that-actually-makes-a-guy-settle-down-is-when-a-woman-comes/) [Matthew Hussey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-hussey/) > [You men & your double standards. You can do it but women can't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-men-your-double-standards-you-can-do-it-but-women-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [English girls' schools today providing the higher education are, so far as my knowledge goes, worthily representative of that astonishing rise in the intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/english-girls-schools-today-providing-the-higher-education-are-so-far/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [A man who gets divorced is not forever going to be talked about for it. There are very different standards that we have for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bianca-jagger/a-man-who-gets-divorced-is-not-forever-going-to-be-talked-about-for/) [Bianca Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bianca-jagger/) > [We gotta break these double-standards and get women to loosen up a bit. We gotta show them that we can do what we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-thee-stallion/we-gotta-break-these-double-standards-and-get-women-to-loosen-up-a/) [Megan Thee Stallion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-thee-stallion/) > [Authority is the spiritual dimension of power because it depends upon faith in a system of meaning that decrees the necessity of the hierarchical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoshana-zuboff/authority-is-the-spiritual-dimension-of-power-because-it-depends-upon/) [Shoshana Zuboff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shoshana-zuboff/) > [Silence 'tis awe decrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/silence-tis-awe-decrees/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [There must be a law if there is to be liberty. Try to play a piano and you will run into laws as fixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/there-must-be-a-law-if-there-is-to-be-liberty-try-to-play-a-piano-and/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) > [Again I ask whence it happened that the fall of Adam involved, without remedy, in eternal death so many nations, together with their infant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/again-i-ask-whence-it-happened-that-the-fall-of-adam-involved-without/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [On one hand, we know that everything happens for a reason, and there are no mistakes or coincidences. On the other hand, we learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-berg/on-one-hand-we-know-that-everything-happens-for-a-reason-and-there/) [Yehuda Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-berg/) > [“What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/what-is-to-be-will-be-and-no-prayers-of-ours-can-arrest-the-decree/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Kings or parliaments could not give the rights essential to happiness... We claim them from a higher source - from the King of kings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickinson/kings-or-parliaments-could-not-give-the-rights-essential-to-happiness/) [John Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickinson/) ## More by Dale Spender > [“Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/feminism-has-fought-no-wars-it-has-killed-no-opponents-it-has-set-up/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/feminism-has-fought-no-wars-it-has-killed-no-opponents-it-has-set-up-2/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [men have been in charge of according value to literature, and ... they have found the contributions of their own sex immeasurably superior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/men-have-been-in-charge-of-according-value-to-literature-and-they/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [Womens humor is part of the revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/womens-humor-is-part-of-the-revolution/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [The talkativeness of women has been gauged in comparison not with men but with silence. Women have not been judged on the grounds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/the-talkativeness-of-women-has-been-gauged-in-comparison-not-with-men/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [Paradoxically, the most constructive thing women can do is to write, for in the act of writing we deny our muteness and begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/paradoxically-the-most-constructive-thing-women-can-do-is-to-write/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [Men who teach only men are called scholars. Women who teach only women are called political agitators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/men-who-teach-only-men-are-called-scholars-women-who-teach-only-women/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [For centuries women have been saying many of the things we are saying today and which we have often thought of as new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/for-centuries-women-have-been-saying-many-of-the-things-we-are-saying/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [Feminism has fought no wars ... killed no opponents ... set up no concentration camps ... starved no enemies ... practiced no cruelty. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/feminism-has-fought-no-wars-killed-no-opponents-set-up-no/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [There is a real split today between those who push the button and those who do the dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/there-is-a-real-split-today-between-those-who-push-the-button-and/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [When women are supposed to be quiet, a talkative woman is a woman who talks at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/when-women-are-supposed-to-be-quiet-a-talkative-woman-is-a-woman-who/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [Language is not neutral. It is not merely a vehicle which carries ideas. It is itself a shaper of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/language-is-not-neutral-it-is-not-merely-a-vehicle-which-carries/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [what has been termed 'correct' English is nothing other than the blatant legitimation of the white middle-class code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/what-has-been-termed-correct-english-is-nothing-other-than-the/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [Openly questioning the way the world works and challenging the power of the powerful is not an activity customarily rewarded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/openly-questioning-the-way-the-world-works-and-challenging-the-power/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [Well into the 19th century there were pronouncements from just about every branch of science and medicine that reading, writing, and thinking were dangerous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/well-into-the-19th-century-there-were-pronouncements-from-just-about/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) [Explore all 25 Dale Spender quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) ## More Arguing quotes > [I do wish you wouldn't argue with me when I'm knitting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-durrell/i-do-wish-you-wouldn-t-argue-with-me-when-i-m-knitting/) [Gerald Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-durrell/) > [Any comprehensive doctrine, religious or secular, can be introduced into any political argument at any time, but I argue that people who do this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rawls/any-comprehensive-doctrine-religious-or-secular-can-be-introduced/) [John Rawls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rawls/) > [It's fine to talk about politics with people you agree with. But it is rude to argue about politics with people you disagree with.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/it-s-fine-to-talk-about-politics-with-people-you-agree-with-but-it-is/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [Men are fair, and they have learned not to personalize anger - they can disagree with you and argue to the bone, but afterward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/men-are-fair-and-they-have-learned-not-to-personalize-anger-they-can/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [When Eudæmonidas heard a philosopher arguing that only a wise man can be a good general, "This is a wonderful speech," said he; "but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/when-eud-monidas-heard-a-philosopher-arguing-that-only-a-wise-man-can/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Fasting is required, staying away from fighting and arguing and bombing of masjids is still going on. Hatred is still manifested between Sunni and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/fasting-is-required-staying-away-from-fighting-and-arguing-and/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) > [The problem for the Left, however, is that the moment it stops painting the Right as vile, it has to argue the issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/the-problem-for-the-left-however-is-that-the-moment-it-stops-painting/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-argue-with-a-person-who-has-renounced-the-use-of-reason-is-like/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [You can argue that the Terminator movies reboot their world each time they go back in time, but that doesn't negate the value of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hayter/you-can-argue-that-the-terminator-movies-reboot-their-world-each-time/) [David Hayter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hayter/) > [We may argue eloquently that 'Honesty is the best Policy' - unfortunately, the moment honesty is adopted for the sake of policy it mysteriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/we-may-argue-eloquently-that-honesty-is-the-best-policy-unfortunately/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I'm a very serious person, but I don't take myself very seriously and I would rather laugh all day than argue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-cold-steve-austin/i-m-a-very-serious-person-but-i-don-t-take-myself-very-seriously-and/) [Stone Cold Steve Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stone-cold-steve-austin/) > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [There's crucial distinction that has to be drawn between the Shari'a, which is this hugely expansive vision of cosmic order that I've been describing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/there-s-crucial-distinction-that-has-to-be-drawn-between-the-shari-a/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [Only fools argue whether to eat meat or not. They don't understand truth nor do they meditate on it. Who can define what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guru-nanak/only-fools-argue-whether-to-eat-meat-or-not-they-don-t-understand/) [Guru Nanak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guru-nanak/) > [The surest sign that you haven't any sense is to argue with one who hasn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/the-surest-sign-that-you-haven-t-any-sense-is-to-argue-with-one-who/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) [Browse all 1,908 Arguing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arguing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "men have their cake and get to eat it too, for while they decree themselves as representative of humanity, women who argue that men are not, are simply showing how little they know! 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