When kids of any age participate in a spelling bee, it has historically been opportunity to learn new words and strengthen their reading skills. These days, however, leftists seem to continue finding new ways to inject politics and their woke agenda into this common rite of passage.

As Fox News recently reported, the Scripps National Spelling Bee is now coming under fire for allowing participants to spell the word “women” with a “y” replacing the “e.”

A spokesperson for Scripps explained to Fox News Digital that all words Scripps uses in its program are pulled from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, which has the alternate spelling for “women.”

“All of the words used in the Scripps National Spelling Bee program are pulled from our official dictionary, Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. During competition, our policy is to accept any correct spelling listed in our official dictionary that isn’t marked archaic or obsolete. The alternate spelling ‘womyn’ is therefore included on our study list because it is listed as an alternate spelling for ‘women’ in Merriam-Webster,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“In building our study lists, we aim to include alternate spellings for any words that have them listed in Merriam-Webster. The Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary is the final authority and sole source for the spelling of all words offered in competition,” the statement continued.

“Womyn” is apparently preferred by some feminists who cannot bear to even write or type the three letters that spell “men.”

Regardless of the motivation for its change, the national bee was pilloried by social media critics:

I just saw Scripps National Spelling Bee is confirming the spelling of WOMYN as an alternative to WOMAN. WOMYN is called a feminist term. Our kids can barely read/write, why confuse them more? STOP IT!! pic.twitter.com/YCTqkpZ2Hf

— Dawn EM-Hammock (@dawn_hammo83319) December 13, 2024

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

@FoxNews today: National Spelling Bee approves feminist term, ‘womyn,’ in kids’ spelling competition@TheBabylonBee two years ago (yes, that’s me!)
We live in the weirdest timeline pic.twitter.com/cG6xMftGEa

— Kira (@RealKiraDavis) December 13, 2024

The Kansas Informer reported on the impact such changes are having on that state’s largest spelling bee:

A Kansas State Representative for the 6th District and Paola school district board member, Samantha Poetter-Parshall said local boards should take a stand to stop such abuses of the King’s English.

“The only way for the students to compete in the county, state, and national spelling bee is to use this list, because it’s the only one they acknowledge to be eligible to move on to the next level,” Poetter-Parshall told The Sentinel news outlet.

“Randy Watson (Kansas Education Commissioner) said that the KPA (Kansas Principal’s Association) hosts the state spelling bee. As a school board member, I can possibly make it so no alternate spelling of words are used. Or at least attempt that,” she said.

“On the state level, since there is no funding directly going to KPA I am not sure what to do to stop this crazy indoctrination of our children.”

Local school spelling bees start the process of winnowing spellers for the state title in January.

Here’s a Fox News segment discussing the issue in greater detail:

Scripps National Spelling Bee is now allowing for an alternative spelling of the word “women”.

They approved of “womyn” to avoid having the word “men” in the spelling.

What do you think of this? pic.twitter.com/nlJlP4hyfn

— Gunther Eagleman (@GuntherEagleman) December 14, 2024

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.

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