"Everyone thinks of God as a man - you can't help it - Santa Claus was a man, therefore God has to be a man"
About this Quote
By chaining Santa to God, she exposes how belief is often assembled from childhood templates and mass-market imagery. The subtext isn’t simply “patriarchy shapes religion”; it’s that gendered authority is taught early, repeated endlessly, and made cozy. Santa is benevolent surveillance, moral accounting, reward and punishment, delivered through a father-coded figure. Once that silhouette is installed, “God” arrives pre-loaded with a beard.
Coming from Smith, the intent is less academic critique than cultural sabotage. Her art has always tested who gets to speak with authority - in music, in poetry, in myth. Here she’s puncturing the default settings: the way even people who imagine themselves secular, rebellious, or “past all that” still picture ultimate power as a man. It’s a one-liner that smuggles a bigger demand: if the image is inherited, it can be reimagined.
Quote Details
| Topic | God |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Smith, Patti. (2026, January 16). Everyone thinks of God as a man - you can't help it - Santa Claus was a man, therefore God has to be a man. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/everyone-thinks-of-god-as-a-man-you-cant-help-98105/
Chicago Style
Smith, Patti. "Everyone thinks of God as a man - you can't help it - Santa Claus was a man, therefore God has to be a man." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/everyone-thinks-of-god-as-a-man-you-cant-help-98105/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Everyone thinks of God as a man - you can't help it - Santa Claus was a man, therefore God has to be a man." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/everyone-thinks-of-god-as-a-man-you-cant-help-98105/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.








