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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary

What is the meaning of 'pre-defined cake'?

Hi,

Can anyone please help me by giving a paraphrase or meaning of 'pre-defined cake'?

Short piece from the article:

"There's a fear among them that this is a zero-sum game; that there's a pre-defined cake and if you start talking about men, you're going to somehow eat a chunk of this cake that's taken them a long time to bake." Dolan points to a November 2006 UN report that followed an international conference on sexual violence in this area of East Africa.
  

Top answer

Hi, The meaning here is not clear to me without more context, but here's my guess so far. There is a finite amoun t (of what, I am not clear). If you start talking about men, you are going to use up part of that amount.

— Clive

  • Hi, The meaning here is not clear to me without more context, but here's my guess so far.
  • There is a finite amoun t (of what, I am not clear).
  • If you start talking about men, you are going to use up part of that amount.
  • Clive
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4 Answers
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Hi,

The meaning here is not clear to me without more context, but here's my guess so far.

There is a finite amount (of what, I am not clear). If you start talking about men, you are going to use up part of that amount.

Clive
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Hi Clive,

Thank you for trying to help me. The article comes from the Guardian : http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jul/17/the-rape-of-men

It is a very long text.

I have to know all the
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Hi,

There is only a finite amount of sympathy/attention/resources that can be devoted to helping victims of sexual violence. If you devote part of that amount to helping male victims, you are reducing the amount that can be devoted to helping female victims.

Clive
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Hi Clive,

Thank you for helping me.
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