(Maire Clayton, Headline USA) The Scripps National Spelling Bee approved the feminist spelling of “womyn” on the study words list for third grade students.
Libs of TikTok shared the now-viral image of the study list on social media.
You can’t make this up. Scripps National Spelling Bee Competetion says third graders can spell the word “women” as “womyn”
A spelling bee pic.twitter.com/llLiYpIug7
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 11, 2024
“You can’t make this up,” the account posted.
The list stated “women” was the preferred spelling, but “womyn” was acceptable.
A representative for Scripps tried to justify the inclusion of the word while speaking with Fox News.
“All of the words used in the Scripps National Spelling Bee program are pulled from our official dictionary, Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary,” the representative said. “During competition, our policy is to accept any correct spelling listed in our official dictionary that isn’t marked archaic or obsolete.”
The representative proceeded to explain how the study lists are constructed.
“In building our study lists, we aim to include alternate spellings for any words that have them listed in Merriam-Webster,” the representative continued. “The Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary is the final authority and sole source for the spelling of all words offered in competition.”
Social media users were quick to call out the change.
“What happens when the kid asks for a definition of the word?” one user questioned.
Others stated it was a Babylon Bee skit that came true.
The comedy skit featured a boy competing in a spelling bee, and he asked for the definition of “woman,” leading to the judges struggle to give a definition.
Omg the @TheBabylonBee skit came true. pic.twitter.com/pp5bjl7ZBJ
— Hazel Appleyard (@HazelAppleyard_) December 11, 2024
Some users offered their own alternative spellings for the word.
“Why not ‘whimxn’? It’s equally as arbitrary as ‘womyn’ and equally wrong,” one user added.
The Merriam–Webster dictionary previously amended the definition of “male” and “female” in 2022.
The change stated a “female” as “having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.” The “male” definition also had the same change.
And in 2019, the dictionary added a definition for the nonbinary pronoun “they” and made it the “word of the year.”
