Inanity, Thy Name is Womyn: National Spelling Bee Adopts Alternative Spelling of “Women”
By: Jonathan Turley | December 15, 2024
The Scripps National Spelling Bee has triggered a controversy after adopting the alternative spelling of “women” as permissible. Students will now be allowed to spell “women” as “womyn.” Parody and reality seem to have emerged given a past Babylon Bee skit (below).
The new 2024-2025 school year study lists include the feminist term “womyn” as an acceptable alternate spelling for “women.”
“womyn” however, has itself now been criticized as offensive. While some feminists wanted to de-masculinize the word and use either womyn or womxn, transgender advocates oppose the term because it is used by feminists who exclude transgender individuals. They also reject the alternative of “wombyn” as referring to a person with a womb as an alternative. That has led some, such as Jennie Kermode, chair of Trans Media Watch, to reject the term “womxn” in favor of “women” as now encompassing trans women.
A Scripps spokesperson pointed to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, which has now recognized the alternate spelling for “women.”
Shakespeare might respond, “Inanity, thy name is womyn.”
Babylon Bee, however, appears to have gotten here first:
What Did You Say? 
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