Words Create Worlds

Our speech should reflect God’s desire for equality among all people. Until we treat everyone as an equally valuable creation of God, we are not being faithful to the word of God.

Girls are as good as boys at math.

That sounds like an encouraging statement, doesn’t it? The sentence tries to send the message that both sexes are equal in their abilities. Girls, it seems to say, are equal to boys in their ability at math.

But words are very powerful, and so is the order in which words are used. Because girls are mentioned first and boys are mentioned second, the implication is that being good at math is more common or natural for boys.

What do you think? Is it true that word order makes a difference?

Consider another statement: Boys are as good as girls at talking about their feelings. You might say, “No way, boys are not good at sharing their feelings.” But most would say that yes, girls are definitely good at this. Because girls are mentioned second, the implication is that it is more natural for girls to talk about their feelings.

Would you ever say, “Girls are as good as boys at talking about their feelings”? Probably not. It ...