A Funny But Inconsequential Article; Or, Proof Positive That Most People Have Their Heads in the Gutter

...Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily. From Huffington Post:

"Magen, tell me something you put in your mouth but don't swallow." Before the question left "Family Feud" host Steve Harvey's lips, he knew he had stumbled into sticky territory.

After innocuously getting the answer "gum" during the initial round, Harvey walked over to the Forsythe team and posed the same question. But Magen, the girl he asked (and a pastor's wife to boot), gave him an incredulous look that summed up what most viewers were likely thinking (assuming that, like us, most viewers have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy).

Harvey immediately spirals into a half tirade/half lecture about how such a question -- and such an answer -- could potentially harm the squeaky-clean legacy that "Family Feud" has enjoyed for decades.

How does Magen eventually answer? Does she tiptoe around the question? Is "Family Feud" off the air after an advertiser revolt against swallowing? You may be surprised.

For the record, I've never given much thought to the wives of pastors and such. Nothing against them as a whole, but were I to think "pastor's wife" I would probably think quiet, demure, sexually repressed and frustrated, and probably not in favor of the majority of the values for which I stand. But Magen seems to prove otherwise. I found her pretty cute, and the fact that she was confident enough to say what I'm guessing the majority of her team, the studio audience, and the home audience was thinking was hot. The fact that her answer was not on the board indicates that the people surveyed were probably not as honest or confident as she.

I'm actually a bit disappointed in Steve Harvey. He seemed threatened by Magen's answer (if not by Magen herself), though I'm guessing (or hoping) based on what I know of him that this was for show in order to protect Family Feud's "squeaky clean legacy". I actually find Harvey's description of the show as "Christian entertainment" (likely meant facetiously) to be highly dubious, as I'm not the only viewer who remembers Richard Dawson and his penchant for forcing himself on female contestants. (In order to avoid upsetting the legions of fundamental Christians who frequent our blog, I'll avoid suggesting that forcing oneself on a woman is consistent with Christian values.)

Now that I think of it, Family Feud is not broadcast live. If Magen's answer was so problematic that the host of the show had to disavow it, why was the segment allowed to air? Why not just replace the offending question with another, more family-friendly one? For that matter, why bother asking the question in the first place? Obviously if most people hear "Name something you put in your mouth but don't swallow" and think of something sexual, I imagine that at least one of the show's producers does as well. Therefore I'm guessing that the question was included on the show precisely because of the possibility of a sexual reference being made - perhaps not one as explicit as "sperm" - with Harvey instructed to visibly disapprove. Lame.

Now that I think of it, I wonder if Magen's answer wasn't on the board because the hundred people surveyed actually prefer to swallow.