I am Mewling Quim. My blog contains pop culture news, film and TV reviews, entertainment industry trends, and helpful information for those aspiring to break into the biz. This may very well be just another in the sea of entertainment blogs, but I have fun with it anyway.

I suppose I should explain myself.

The phrase “mewling quim” is, as you probably know, a reference to a line spat at Black Widow by Loki in the excellent film The Avengers (2012). It uses archaic vocabulary, but essentially means “whining cunt”.

Why on earth would I choose to take this on as my moniker?

For one, Joss Whedon is a champion. I admire his works greatly, and have actually spent a great deal of time studying them in an academic context. The brilliant writer/director has joked about how his greatest achievement in the making of this film was getting the phrase “mewling quim” out to the masses (read: past the censors).

More specifically, the wave of outrage against the use of this term in The Avengers led me to think quite a bit about its significance.

I will say one thing simply: I am a huge advocate of free speech and am not a proponent of censorship. I believe people should be allowed to call each other quims if they so choose. Words only have as much power as we give them. If you are offended by vulgarities, that is your choice.

In a sense, the people who were so outraged at the use of this phrase were, themselves, the ones who were mewling.

Most people did not even know what the phrase meant, which is why it was able to get past the censors of this PG-13 film, but that also means that it has, to a certain extent, lost its impact. Which brings me again to the point that words only have as much power as we give to them. Language changes. Words come in and out of usage. Every word means something different to every individual, as every individual has had different experiences and has different associated connotations.

I use the name “Mewling Quim” for myself partly as a joke. I think it’s fucking funny. But I also use it to hopefully subtly demonstrate something I believe about free speech. If you disagree, that’s fine with me. Call me all the names you like. Although I prefer mewling quim.

Follow my blog @ mewling-quim.com