--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So little is permissible for a woman—yet…" description: "\"“So little is permissible for a woman—yet on her back every human climbs to adulthood.”\" — Janet Benton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/janet-benton-42353_quote_so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet_1805290.jpg" --- # So little is permissible for a woman—yet on her back every… ![“So little is permissible for a woman—yet on her back every human climbs to adulthood.” quote by Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/janet-benton-42353_quote_so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet_1805290.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/janet-benton-42353_quote_so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet_1805290.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/janet-benton-42353_quote_so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet_1805290.jpg) > ““So little is permissible for a woman—yet on her back every human climbs to adulthood.”” [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societal expectations limit women, yet everyone relies on them to reach adulthood. **In simple terms:** Women are constrained but essential. Key Takeaway Recognize and value women's contributions. Themes gender roles social expectations dependence Mood reflective critical Type social philosophical When to use this quote - family dynamics - workplace policies - education curricula - media representation Key Concepts feminist theory intersectionality cultural norms Questions to Reflect On - How do cultural norms shape gender expectations? - What can be done to balance responsibilities? A Different Perspective The quote may overlook men's challenges and broader systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adulthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/) [Climbs Adulthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbs-adulthood-2067408/) [Human Climbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-climbs-2067410/) [Permissible Woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permissible-woman-2067409/) [Woman Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman-human-590385/) ## Related quotes > [I don't particularly consider myself just an artist. I'm a woman - I'm a human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ono/i-don-t-particularly-consider-myself-just-an-artist-i-m-a-woman-i-m-a/) [Yoko Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ono/) > [The desire of a man for a woman is not directed at her because she is a human being, but because she is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-desire-of-a-man-for-a-woman-is-not-directed-at-her-because-she-is/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [A woman is human. She is not better, wiser, stronger, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man. Likewise, she is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/a-woman-is-human-she-is-not-better-wiser-stronger-more-intelligent/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [I'm still feminine, I'm still a woman, and above all, I'm still human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-rowe/i-m-still-feminine-i-m-still-a-woman-and-above-all-i-m-still-human/) [Debbie Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-rowe/) > [A Real Man/A Real Woman Is A Human Being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ms-freshie/a-real-man-a-real-woman-is-a-human-being/) [Ms\_Freshie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ms-freshie/) > [It's all right for a woman to be, above all, human. I am a woman first of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/it-s-all-right-for-a-woman-to-be-above-all-human-i-am-a-woman-first/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I suppose you all grant that woman is a human being. If she has a right to life she has a right to earn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-suppose-you-all-grant-that-woman-is-a-human-being-if-she-has-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'll admit that I am not always 100 percent confident because I'm a woman. I'm a woman and I'm human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karol-g/i-ll-admit-that-i-am-not-always-100-percent-confident-because-i-m-a/) [Karol G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karol-g/) > [“I wondered what a man I had encountered the day before on the plane en route to Chicago's O'Hare airport would have made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/i-wondered-what-a-man-i-had-encountered-the-day-before-on-the-plane/) [Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/) > [If I were entering adulthood now instead of in the environment of fifty years ago, I would choose a career that kept me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/if-i-were-entering-adulthood-now-instead-of-in-the-environment-of/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [You can only pretend for so long before reality hits and you realize he/she is not who you thought or what you truly want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/you-can-only-pretend-for-so-long-before-reality-hits-and-you-realize/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [Two things suck about becoming an adult male - paying taxes and getting a finger in your butt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-code/two-things-suck-about-becoming-an-adult-male-paying-taxes-and-getting/) [Guy Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-code/) > [People often say that you should never work with child actors. I think that's all wrong. Children have not had the imagination kicked out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/people-often-say-that-you-should-never-work-with-child-actors-i-think/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) ## More by Janet Benton > [“When I gardened at home, I often considered how the growth of plants resembles the gradual growth of the spirit. And seeing life make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/when-i-gardened-at-home-i-often-considered-how-the-growth-of-plants/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) > [“Tears slid down my cheeks. Their source must move closer to the eyes in mothers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/tears-slid-down-my-cheeks-their-source-must-move-closer-to-the-eyes/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) > [“We can pursue our true wants, Mill writes, only when doing so harms no one to whom we are obliged.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/we-can-pursue-our-true-wants-mill-writes-only-when-doing-so-harms-no/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) > [“Why had I failed, when all my aims were good?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/why-had-i-failed-when-all-my-aims-were-good/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) > [“Bitterness is poison, yes, but I hold a flask of it to my lips and drink.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/bitterness-is-poison-yes-but-i-hold-a-flask-of-it-to-my-lips-and-drink/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) > [“As if passion alone explained our predicaments. Our being female and unlucky—and, in my case, a near idiot in the ways of amorous men—must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/as-if-passion-alone-explained-our-predicaments-our-being-female-and/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) > [“When someone calls me madam, I think they mean my mother.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/when-someone-calls-me-madam-i-think-they-mean-my-mother/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) > [“Some force moves all living things to excel. Surely this proves we are endowed with bits of our Creator.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/some-force-moves-all-living-things-to-excel-surely-this-proves-we-are/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) > [“How is it that shame affixes itself to the violated, and not to the violator?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/how-is-it-that-shame-affixes-itself-to-the-violated-and-not-to-the/) [Janet Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) [Explore all 10 Janet Benton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/) ## More Adulthood quotes > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [People often say that you should never work with child actors. I think that's all wrong. Children have not had the imagination kicked out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/people-often-say-that-you-should-never-work-with-child-actors-i-think/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) > [Two things suck about becoming an adult male - paying taxes and getting a finger in your butt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-code/two-things-suck-about-becoming-an-adult-male-paying-taxes-and-getting/) [Guy Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-code/) > [You can only pretend for so long before reality hits and you realize he/she is not who you thought or what you truly want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/you-can-only-pretend-for-so-long-before-reality-hits-and-you-realize/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [If I were entering adulthood now instead of in the environment of fifty years ago, I would choose a career that kept me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/if-i-were-entering-adulthood-now-instead-of-in-the-environment-of/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [“English: "Being an adult doesn't mean killing the child we once were; it means being able to protect him." Česky: „Být dospělým neznamená zabít…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebasti-n-wortys/english-being-an-adult-doesn-t-mean-killing-the-child-we-once-were-it/) [Sebastián Wortys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebasti-n-wortys/) > [“I wondered what a man I had encountered the day before on the plane en route to Chicago's O'Hare airport would have made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/i-wondered-what-a-man-i-had-encountered-the-day-before-on-the-plane/) [Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/) > [“Sometimes your kids will say the nastiest things, won't they, Rose? You want to ask,'Whose child is this?'" Rose chuckled. "But usually, they're just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/sometimes-your-kids-will-say-the-nastiest-things-won-t-they-rose-you/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [No one, it has been said, will ever look at the Moon in the same way again. More significantly can one say that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/no-one-it-has-been-said-will-ever-look-at-the-moon-in-the-same-way/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [“one Secret of Adulthood is “Never start a sentence with the words ‘No offense’”? “And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/one-secret-of-adulthood-is-never-start-a-sentence-with-the-words-no/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [In their youth, mortals behave more like nymphs. Adulthood seems impossibly distant, let alone the enfeeblement of old age. But ponderously, inevitably, it overtakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-mull/in-their-youth-mortals-behave-more-like-nymphs-adulthood-seems/) [Brandon Mull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-mull/) > [Public schools were designed as the great equalizers of our society - the place where all children could have access to educational opportunities to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-napolitano/public-schools-were-designed-as-the-great-equalizers-of-our-society/) [Janet Napolitano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-napolitano/) > [“Yet GenX'er teens didn't slow down--they were just as likely to drive, drink alcohol, and date as their Boomer peers and more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/yet-genx-er-teens-didn-t-slow-down-they-were-just-as-likely-to-drive/) [Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/) > [“The entrepreneurs are only about my age, probably younger, but they don't seem so. Their tailored clothes and unbending hairdos, their clipboards and laser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-baume/the-entrepreneurs-are-only-about-my-age-probably-younger-but-they-don/) [Sara Baume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-baume/) [Browse all 651 Adulthood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So little is permissible for a woman—yet on her back every human climbs to adulthood.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Janet Benton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet-on-her-back-every-human/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adulthood" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet-on-her-back-every-human/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/janet-benton-42353_quote_so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet_1805290.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/janet-benton-42353_quote_so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet_1805290.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/janet-benton-42353_quote_so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet_1805290.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So little is permissible for a woman—yet on her back every human climbs to adulthood.” — Janet Benton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Janet Benton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-benton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“So little is permissible for a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet-on-her-back-every-human/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-benton/so-little-is-permissible-for-a-woman-yet-on-her-back-every-human/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```