Why does it matter if we call them 'girl push ups'?

What's the big deal?

Yes, I played football, and yes I'm a huge proponent that girls can and should be expected to do the same amount and type of work boys do growing up - and vice versa. However, the girl vs. modified push up thing is not about a women's lib for me.  Relatively speaking, I’m not even that much of a feminist.  Racial inequality is probably the cause I feel strongest about.  In fact, the headline in the Saginaw News many years ago about my football experience observed my lack of political motivation in my choice to play football.  

So why does it matter that we call them girl push ups?  It matters because every time you label a thing - especially a lesser thing - as being a ‘girl’ this or that, you send a message that she is LESS THAN.  You send a message that her ability is fixed and limited.  You send a message that she is second class to a boy.  Yes, it is just a label, just a way of making a distinction between harder and easier push ups.  For goodness sake - In this world, knowing what we know about development, it is such an easy fix, why wouldn’t we strive to make that change as a people?!  Why wouldn’t you try to use language to empower all children?! Why, you know, in the WORLD, would anyone try to limit a child before he or she has had a chance to explore just how GREAT they can be?

So is it really that big of a deal?  The answer is, it depends on how deeply you care about the development of the girls that you teach, raise or coach.