‘Jeopardy!’ Under Fire From Conservative Viewers – Here’s Why
While most Jeopardy! fans are enjoying the tense and often surprising 2024 Tournament of Champions, some conservative viewers are losing their minds over a recent ‘pronouns’ puzzle.
On Monday’s (February 26) episode, Season 39 super-champ Cris Pannullo selected the $600 puzzle under the “Speech! Parts of Speech!” category. The clue read, “Xem, Xyrs, Xemself,” to which Pannullo correctly answered, “What are pronouns?”
“Those are pronouns,” host Ken Jennings confirmed, adding more specifically, “Neopronouns.”
For those unfamiliar, xem/xyrs/xemself are gender-neutral pronouns that have recently grown in popularity. In fact, the social media app Instagram lets users apply pronoun and neopronoun options, including she, her, hers, he, him, his, they, them, thon, thons, hir, ze, zir, zie, xe, xem, xyr, and many more.
Add pronouns to your profile ✨
The new field is available in a few countries, with plans for more. pic.twitter.com/02HNSqc04R
— Instagram (@instagram) May 11, 2021
Of course, this ruffled the feathers of some viewers who seemingly fear anything against the norm.
“I will NEVER watch Jeopardy after this. After Alex [Trebek], it all went downhill,” wrote one fan on X (formerly Twitter).
“@Jeopardy lost a lifetime fan over pronouns,” said another. “Never thought you would condone mental illness for viewership.”
Jeopardy asked about xem/xyrs/xemself “pronouns” during last night’s show
How would you answer this? pic.twitter.com/dAjSLu3lRz
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 27, 2024
“I still watch Jeopardy every day but their questions and answers keep getting weirder and weirder,” added one commenter. “When Alex Trebek was still alive we never had any of this.”
“Now @Jeopardy gets to be on my permanent banned list,” added another, while radio broadcaster Mike Opelka said, “Dear God, we’ve lost #Jeopardy to the woke insanity.”
“Go woke, go broke!” said another, echoing a common refrain among conservatives raging amid the ongoing culture war.
Despite the anger from some quarters, Jeopardy! is, in fact, not going ‘broke.’ The show continues to lead the ratings across all of syndication. As of the week ended January 22, Jeopardy! held a 5.9 live-plus-same-day national household rating, according to Nielsen, making it 16 straight weeks at the top of the chart.
In addition, the use of gender-neutral pronouns has grown in recent years. According to a 2021 study from the Pew Research Center, a reported 26 percent of adults in the United States “personally knew someone who goes by gender-neutral pronouns such as ‘they’ instead of ‘he’ or ‘she.'”
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I suspect that Alex would have been perfectly fine with the show reflecting cultural change. (Also, a wink to the writer of this -- Martin Holmes -- for the subtle little digs throughout at the ridiculousness of some of these complaints. 👍)
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👍
Yes, let's always find ways in every article across the internet to put down conservative arguments in sly, subtle ways (or blatant ways, because... conservatives, duh).
I mean, how dare people have a different opinions on things...
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If people are so stupidly intolerant of the cultural movements in the country happening all around them that they refuse to watch a game show that incorporates such trends into its questions, then they are only shooting themselves in the foot. It is a pity but they made their own lives a problem by not accepting what exists in their own world.
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Stills love the show an d time marches on
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Wow! These people have become positively unhinged. Ken Jennings is Mormon, possibly far more conservative than even many of these loons could imagine being, yet he's not losing his mind over parts of speech.
Talk about your bunch of snowflakes...
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A Poem on Gender Neutrality
Genuinely gender-free,
Without forced "him, her, they, or she,"
Would be a pleasant victory, away from all hypocrisy.
Though bigotry can be quite brutal,
Pushing pronouns seems quite futile,
In changing minds of those who may
Attack those trans, bi, straight, or gay,
For simply living or loving that way!
Political spin, volatility, and idolatry
Can pre-empt the achievement of true equality,
Leading into more hostility
By those who won't or cannot see
The Truth, though, some may find it odd,
The real gender-neutral one is God!
If we're truly made in the image of
The Omnipresence we claim to Love,
It will take more than pronouns to set things right,
And for everyone to see the Light,
For true equity to come to pass,
And usher a global change, en masse,
Insight cannot be stipulated,
Legislated, or regulated,
Liberty will not be hastened
Just because those who hate are chastened.
Compassion has to arise within
The hearts of those who see a sin
In folks just being what they've always been,
In a world still plagued by brutality
For lacking gender-neutrality.
© Oct. 3, 2021 by Lawrence L. Schwartz
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I know a few women who now identify in social media with neopronouns because of harassment and trolling. personally I don't care how anyone identifies themselves, just use the restroom of the sex you were born with or the family bathroom.
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Well, it's always been a game that unabashedly reflects the culture of the moment, and these are indeed a relatively new form of pronoun in somewhat increased usage. I don't personally agree with it and wouldn't use these in regular conversation, but it's a perfectly valid clue/response and a "sign of the times."
Granted, it seems a bit clunkier to me than "they/them/theirs/themself" in the same context, and it might lead to a few problems on Elon Musk's platform. (I'd certainly like to know how one arrives at "xyrs" with a y.) Still, if it makes some individuals more comfortable to use neopronouns as their identifiers, more power to 'em.
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Absolutely!!
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