Editing Cunt (section)

==Examples of use==
{{excessive examples|section|date=August 2016}}

===Literature===

[[James Joyce]] was one of the first major 20th-century novelists to put the word "cunt" into print. In the context of one of the central characters in ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' (1922), [[Leopold Bloom]], Joyce refers to the [[Dead Sea]] and to {{blockquote|... the oldest people. Wandered far away over all the earth, captivity to captivity, multiplying, dying, being born everywhere. It lay there now. Now it could bear no more. Dead: an old woman's: the grey sunken cunt of the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themodernword.com/joyce/joyce_paper_conley.html |title=Commentary on Joyce |publisher=Themodernword.com |date=1939-05-07 |access-date=2011-12-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230070108/http://themodernword.com/joyce/joyce_paper_conley.html |archive-date=2011-12-30 }}</ref>}}
Joyce uses the word figuratively rather than literally; but while Joyce used the word only once in ''Ulysses'', with four other wordplays ('cunty') on it, [[D. H. Lawrence]] later used the word ten times in ''[[Lady Chatterley's Lover]]'' (1928), in a more direct sense.<ref>{{cite news|author=Doris Lessing |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1819727,00.html |title=Review of "Lady Chatterley" |publisher=Books.guardian.co.uk |date= 14 July 2006|access-date=18 December 2011 |location=London}}</ref> Mellors, the gamekeeper and eponymous lover, tries delicately to explain the definition of the word to Lady Constance Chatterley: "If your sister there comes ter me for a bit o' cunt an' tenderness, she knows what she's after." The novel was the subject of [[R v Penguin Books Ltd|an unsuccessful UK prosecution in 1961]] against its publishers, [[Penguin Books]], on grounds of obscenity.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,367917,00.html|title= Cock-up and cover-up|access-date=6 March 2008 |work= The Guardian | location=London}}</ref>

[[Samuel Beckett]] was an associate of Joyce, and in his ''[[Malone Dies]]'' (1956), he writes: "His young wife had abandoned all hope of bringing him to heel, by means of her cunt, that [[Trump (card games)|trump card]] of young wives."<ref>{{cite book | title = Women in Beckett | year = 1990 | isbn = 978-0-252-06256-8 | publisher = University of Illinois | last = Ben-Zvi | first = Linda}}</ref> In 1998, [[Inga Muscio]] published ''[[Cunt: A Declaration of Independence]]''. In [[Ian McEwan]]'s novel ''[[Atonement (novel)|Atonement]]'' (2001), set in 1935, the word is used in the draft of a [[love letter]] mistakenly sent instead of a revised version and, although not spoken, is an important plot pivot.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yalereviewofbooks.com/archive/spring02/review15.shtml.htm |title=Ian McEwan's Fictional Act of Atonement. |access-date=6 March 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317055448/http://www.yalereviewofbooks.com/archive/spring02/review15.shtml.htm |archive-date=17 March 2008 }}</ref>

[[Irvine Welsh]] uses the word widely in his novels, such as ''[[Trainspotting (novel)|Trainspotting]]'', generally as a generic placeholder for a man, and not always negatively, e.g. "Ah wis the cunt wi the fuckin pool cue in ma hand, n the plukey cunt could huv the fat end ay it in his pus if he wanted, like."<ref name="mullan">{{cite news |last1=Mullan |first1=John |title=Trainspotting: dialect |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/may/31/irvinewelsh |access-date=1 May 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=31 May 2008}}</ref><ref name="Irvine Welsh"/>

===Art===
{{See also|Vagina and vulva in art}}
The word is occasionally used in the titles of works of art, such as Peter Renosa's portrait of the pop singer [[Madonna]], ''I am the Cunt of Western Civilization'', from a 1990 quote by the singer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edgemedianetwork.com/health_fitness/hiv_aids/features//150456/controversial_madonna_painting_opens_magnet_hiv_clinic_ar.t_show |title=Controversial Madonna Painting Opens Magnet HIV Clinic Art Show |last1=McCroy |first1=Winnie |date=10 October 2013 |website=www.edgemedianetwork.com |publisher=Edge Media Network |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=25 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125054524/http://www.edgemedianetwork.com/health_fitness/hiv_aids/features//150456/controversial_madonna_painting_opens_magnet_hiv_clinic_ar.t_show |url-status=dead }}</ref> One of the first works of [[Gilbert & George]] was a self-portrait in 1969<ref>{{cite web |title=George the Cunt and Gilbert the Shit |url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/88827/george-cunt-and-gilbert-shit |website=National Galleries of Scotland |language=en}}</ref> entitled "Gilbert the Shit and George the Cunt".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jeffries |first1=Stuart |title=Gilbert and George: the odd couple {{!}} Stuart Jeffries |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jun/24/gilbert-george-white-cube |access-date=16 July 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=24 June 2009 |language=en}}</ref> The London performance art group the [[Neo Naturists]] had a song and an act called "Cunt Power", a name which potter [[Grayson Perry]] borrowed for one of his early works: "An unglazed piece of modest dimensions, made from terracotta like clay – labia carefully formed with once wet material, about its midriff".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dedman |first1=Alan |title=Alan Dedman has a candid look at Grayson Perry |url=http://alan-dedman-artist.co.uk/wordpress/alan-dedman-looks-at-grayson-perry/ |website=alan-dedman-artist.co.uk |access-date=23 February 2021 |date=22 December 2017}}</ref> Australian artist Greg Taylor's display of scores of white porcelain vulvas, "CUNTS and other conversations" (2009), was deemed controversial for both its title and content, with [[Australia Post]] warning the artist that the publicity postcards were illegal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harrington |first1=Erin Jean |title=Women, monstrosity and horror film: gynaehorror |date=2018 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=9781315546568 }}</ref>

===Theatre===
Theatre censorship was effectively [[Theatres Act 1968|abolished in the UK in 1968]]; prior to that, all theatrical productions had to be vetted by [[Lord Chamberlain's Office]]. English stand-up comedian [[Roy "Chubby" Brown]] claims that he was the first person to say the word on stage in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Chubby">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/tees/weareteesside/halloffame/chubbyinterview.shtml |title=Tees Stage – Interview with Chubby Brown |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |access-date=18 December 2011}}</ref>

===Television===
====United Kingdom====
Broadcast media is regulated for content, and media providers such as the [[BBC]] have guidelines which specify how "cunt" and similar words should be treated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-language-full|title=Editorial Guidelines – Guidance – Language – Guidance in Full|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=13 September 2014|archive-date=25 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225042103/http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-language-full|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a survey of 2000 commissioned by the British [[Ofcom|Broadcasting Standards Commission]], [[Independent Television Commission]], BBC and [[Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)|Advertising Standards Authority]], "cunt" was regarded as the most offensive word which could be heard, above "[[motherfucker]]" and "[[fuck]]".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.asa.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1EAEACA7-8322-4C86-AAC2-4261551F57FE/0/ASA_Delete_Expletives_Dec_2000.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090521075426/http://www.asa.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1EAEACA7-8322-4C86-AAC2-4261551F57FE/0/ASA_Delete_Expletives_Dec_2000.pdf | archive-date = 21 May 2009 | title = Delete Expletives | url-status = dead | access-date = 13 September 2013 }}</ref> Nevertheless, there have been occasions when, particularly in a live broadcast, the word has been aired outside editorial control:
* ''[[David Frost|The Frost Programme]]'', broadcast 7 November 1970, was the first time the word was known to have been used on British television, in an aside by [[Felix Dennis]].<ref name="Silverton" /> This incident has since been reshown many times.<ref name="Indy">{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-c-word-524059.html|title= The C word |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London |date=22 January 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502130148/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-c-word-524059.html |archive-date=2 May 2008 |access-date=13 September 2013}}</ref>
* [[Bernard Manning]] first said on television the line "They say you are what you eat. I'm a cunt."<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970201/ai_n14088564/pg_2|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130322004846/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970201/ai_n14088564/pg_2|url-status= dead|archive-date= 22 March 2013|title= Books: A blast of Jacobson's Organ|access-date=6 March 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,,1541264,00.html|title= No laughing matter|access-date=6 March 2008 |work= The Guardian | location=London | first=Stuart | last=Jeffries | date=3 August 2005}}</ref>
* ''[[This Morning (TV programme)|This Morning]]'' broadcast the word in 2000, used by model [[Caprice Bourret]] while being interviewed live about her role in ''[[The Vagina Monologues]]''.<ref>{{cite news |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20020214201246/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/media/story.jsp?story=114876 |url= http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/media/story.jsp?story=114876 |archive-date=14 February 2002 |title=Caprice accidentally breaks the last linguistic taboo on television |access-date=6 March 2008 | work=The Independent |url-status= dead | location=London}}</ref>

The first scripted uses of the word on British television occurred in 1979, in the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] drama ''No Mama No''.<ref name="Silverton" /><ref name = "Indy"/> In ''[[Jerry Springer – The Opera]]'' (BBC, 2005), the suggestion that the Christ character might be gay was found more controversial than the chant describing the Devil as "cunting, cunting, cunting, cunting cunt".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jan/09/broadcasting.religion|title = F*** you, says BBC as 50,000 rage at Spr*ng*r |access-date=6 March 2008 | work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Vanessa | last=Thorpe | date=9 January 2005}}</ref>

In July 2007 [[BBC Three (former)|BBC Three]] broadcast an hour-long documentary, entitled ''The 'C' Word'', about the origins, use and evolution of the word from the early 1900s to the present day. Presented by British comedian [[Will Smith (comedian)|Will Smith]], viewers were taken to a street in [[Oxford]] once called [[Gropecunt Lane]] and presented with examples of the acceptability of "cunt" as a word.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007sj0x|title= The C Word: How We Came to Swear By It|access-date=6 March 2008}}</ref> (Note that "the C-word" is also a long-standing euphemism for cancer; [[Lisa Lynch]]'s book led to a BBC1 drama, both with that title.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Groskop|first1=Viv|title=Lisa Lynch obituary Writer who recounted her experience of cancer with engaging candour and published a book based on her popular blog|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/18/lisa-lynch|access-date=20 May 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 March 2015}}</ref>)

The ''Attitudes to potentially offensive language and gestures on TV and radio'' report by [[Ofcom]], based on research conducted by [[Ipsos MORI]], categorised the usage of the word 'cunt' as a highly unacceptable pre-[[Watershed (broadcasting)#United Kingdom|watershed]], but generally acceptable post-watershed, along with 'fuck' and 'motherfucker'. Discriminatory words were generally considered as more offensive than the most offensive non-discriminatory words such as 'cunt' by the UK public, with discriminatory words being more regulated as a result.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/91624/OfcomOffensiveLanguage.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009191715/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/91624/OfcomOffensiveLanguage.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2016 |url-status=live|date=September 2016|title=Attitudes to potentially offensive language and gestures on TV and radio|work=[[Ipsos MORI]]|publisher=[[Ofcom]]|access-date=24 August 2018}}</ref>

====United States====
The first scripted use on US television was on the ''[[Larry Sanders Show]]'' in 1992, and a notable use occurred in ''[[Sex and the City]]''.<ref name="Silverton" /> In the US, an episode of the [[NBC]] TV show ''[[30 Rock]]'', titled "[[The C Word (30 Rock)|The C Word]]", centered around a subordinate calling protagonist [[Liz Lemon]] ([[Tina Fey]]) a "cunt" and her subsequent efforts to regain her staff's favour.<ref>{{cite web|title=30 Rock - Season 1, Episode 14: The "C" Word - TV.com|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/30-rock/the-c-word-892404/|access-date=13 July 2020|archive-date=28 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628184930/http://www.tv.com/shows/30-rock/the-c-word-892404/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Characters in the popular TV series ''[[The Sopranos]]'' often used the term.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The essential Sopranos reader|url=https://archive.org/details/essentialsoprano00lave|url-access=limited|last=Lavery|first=David|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|others=Lavery, David, 1949-, Howard, Douglas L., 1966-, Levinson, Paul.|year=2011|isbn=978-0-8131-3014-9|location=Lexington, KY|pages=[https://archive.org/details/essentialsoprano00lave/page/n105 93]–104|oclc=739713784}}</ref> [[Jane Fonda]] uttered the word on a live airing of the ''[[Today (NBC program)|Today Show]]'', a network broadcast-TV news program, in 2008 when being interviewed by co-host [[Meredith Vieira]] about ''[[The Vagina Monologues]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/15/fonda_slip/|title=Jane Fonda c-word slip shocks US |website=[[The Register]] |access-date=6 March 2008}}</ref>  Coincidentally, nearly two years later in 2010, also on the ''Today Show'', Vieira interviewed a thirteen-year-old girl said the word twice to describe the contents of [[Text messaging|text messages]] she was privy to that were central to a well publicised and violent assault.  Meredith gently cautioned the girl to choose her words more carefully. As this was a live broadcast on the East Coast, the slurs already were already broadcast, but the producers removed the audio for the Central, Mountain, and Pacific feeds as well as online.  Like the Fonda incident, Vieira issued an apology later in the show.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 June 2010 |title=WATCH: 13-Year-Old Girl Says 'C-Word' Twice On 'Today' Show |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kayla-manson-13-year-old_n_607266 |access-date=14 June 2023 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref>  Media Critic Thomas Francis commented on what he perceived to be hypocrisy in the media industry:

{{Blockquote
|text= Isn't it interesting how the national media licks its chops over this story, delighting in every gory detail, only to caution a 13-year-old girl to be "careful about our language"? <br/> <br/>
Why should she be careful, Meredith? Because there are 13-year-old girls in the audience? There's so much violence and vulgarity in modern American culture, words like ''cunt'' are like so many deck chairs on the ''Titanic''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Francis |first=Thomas |title=Kids Say the Damnedest Things: 13-Year-Old Deerfield Student Drops C-Word on Today Show |url=https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/kids-say-the-damnedest-things-13-year-old-deerfield-student-drops-c-word-on-today-show-6455155 |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=New Times Broward-Palm Beach |language=en}}</ref>
}}

In 2018, Canadian comedian [[Samantha Bee]] had to apologise after calling [[Ivanka Trump]], a [[White House]] official and the daughter of US President [[Donald Trump]], a "feckless cunt".<ref name="Mahdawi">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jun/01/samantha-bee-ivanka-trump-c-word-america|title=Samantha Bee proves there's still one word you can't say in America|last=Mahdawi|first=Arwa|date=1 June 2018|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref>

===Radio===
On 6 December 2010 on the [[BBC Radio 4]] [[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today programme]], presenter [[James Naughtie]] referred to the British Culture Secretary [[Jeremy Hunt]] as "Jeremy Cunt"; he later apologised for what the BBC called the inadvertent use of "an offensive four-letter word".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11925556 |title=Today presenter James Naughtie slips up on air |access-date=6 December 2010 | work=BBC News |date=6 December 2010}}</ref> In the programme following, about an hour later, [[Andrew Marr]] referred to the incident during ''[[Start the Week]]'' where it was said that "we won't repeat the mistake" whereupon Marr slipped up in the same way as Naughtie had.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jackson|first1=Jasper|title=Radio 4 newsreader got champagne reward for handling Jeremy Hunt gaffe|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/10/radio-4-jeremy-hunt-gaff-jim-naughtie-rory-morrison|work=The Guardian|date=10 August 2015|language=en}}</ref>

===Film===
<!-- Additions here will need verifiable sources to avoid [[WP:OR|original research]] problems-->
The word's first appearance was in graffiti on a wall in the 1969 film ''[[Bronco Bullfrog]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161124154333/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/bronco-bullfrog-1969 BBFC page for Bronco Bullfrog], under "insight" section – ''Language: Infrequent strong language ('f**k') occurs, as well as a single written use of very strong language ('c**t') which appears as graffiti on a wall.''</ref> The first spoken use of the word in mainstream cinema occurs in ''[[Carnal Knowledge (film)|Carnal Knowledge]]'' (1971), in which Jonathan ([[Jack Nicholson]]) asks, "Is this an ultimatum? Answer me, you ball-busting, castrating, son of a cunt bitch! Is this an ultimatum or not?" In the same year, the word was used in the film ''[[Women in Revolt]]'', in which [[Holly Woodlawn]] shouts "I love cunt" whilst avoiding a violent boyfriend.<ref>{{cite book |last=Murphy |first=J. J. |title=The Black Hole of the Camera: The Films of Andy Warhol |page=239 |publisher=University of California Press |date=4 March 2012 |isbn=978-0-520-27187-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJ4DyN1OmoAC&q=women+in+revolt+cunt&pg=PA239}}</ref> Nicholson later used it again, in ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]'' (1975).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/100-random-movie-facts-you-really-need-to-know|title=100 Random Movie Facts You Really Need To Know|last=Nicholls|first=Owen|date=29 March 2012|work=[[NME]]|access-date=13 September 2014}}</ref> Two early films by [[Martin Scorsese]], ''[[Mean Streets]]'' (1973) and ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' (1976), use the word in the context of the [[Madonna–whore complex|virgin-whore dichotomy]], with characters using it after they were rejected (in ''Mean Streets'') or after they have slept with the woman (in ''Taxi Driver'').<ref>{{cite book |last=Levy |first=Emmanuel |title=Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film |page=118 |publisher=[[New York University Press|NYU Press]] |date=1 March 2001 |isbn=978-0-8147-5124-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_j3ninWUdsC&pg=PA118 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019075627/http://books.google.com/books?id=L_j3ninWUdsC&pg=PA118 |archive-date=19 October 2014 }}</ref>

In notable instances, the word has been edited out. ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'' (1977) was released in two versions, "R" (Restricted) and "PG" (Parental Guidance), the latter omitting or replacing dialogue such as Tony Manero ([[John Travolta]])'s comment to Annette ([[Donna Pescow]]), "It's a decision a girl's gotta make early in life, if she's gonna be a nice girl or a cunt".<ref name="Silverton">{{cite book|last=Silverton|first=Peter|title=Filthy English: The How, Why, When And What Of Everyday Swearing|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSErq0ssG74C&pg=PT64|year=2011|publisher=Granta|isbn=978-1-84627-452-7|page=64|chapter=Vulvas, Vaginas and Breasts}}</ref> This differential persists, and in ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs]]'' (1991), [[Clarice Starling|Agent Starling]] ([[Jodie Foster]]) meets [[Dr. Hannibal Lecter]] ([[Anthony Hopkins]]) for the first time and passes the cell of "Multiple Miggs", who says to Starling: "I can smell your cunt." In versions of the film edited for television the word is dubbed with the word [[scent]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/quotes |title=Silence of the Lambs (1991) |publisher=Internet Movie Database |access-date=12 February 2009}}</ref> The 2010 film ''[[Kick-Ass (film)|Kick-Ass]]'' caused a controversy when the word was used by [[Hit-Girl (character)|Hit-Girl]] because the actress playing the part, [[Chloë Grace Moretz]], was 11 years old at the time of filming.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/04/14/a-movie-breaks-the-c-word-taboo.html | title=Hollywood Busts a Taboo | newspaper=The Daily Beast | first=Nicole|last=LaPorte | date=14 April 2010 |access-date=13 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="Cox">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/apr/02/kick-ass-bad-language|title=Kick-Ass kicks the c-word into the mainstream|last=Cox|first=David|date=2 April 2010|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=13 September 2014}}</ref>

In Britain, use of the word "cunt" may result in an "18" rating from the [[British Board of Film Classification]] (BBFC), and this happened to [[Ken Loach]]'s film ''[[Sweet Sixteen (2002 film)|Sweet Sixteen]]'', because of an estimated twenty uses of "cunt".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/censorship/news/0,,804490,00.html |title=Loach tells sweet sixteens to ignore BBFC |work=The Guardian |date=4 October 2002 |access-date=12 February 2009 | location=London}}</ref> Still, the BBFC's guidelines at "15" state that "very strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual justification".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/15|title=15 – British Board of Film Classification|access-date=30 December 2016}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Also directed by Loach, ''[[My Name is Joe]]'' was given a 15 certificate despite more than one instance of the word.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/my-name-joe-1970-3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223075008/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/my-name-joe-1970-3|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 December 2018|title=My Name is Joe rated 15 by the BBFC |publisher=Bbfc.co.uk |access-date=16 July 2016}}</ref> The 2010 [[Ian Dury]] biopic ''[[Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (film)|Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll]]'' was given a "15" rating despite containing seven uses of the word.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/0/550684df5d1e6da9802576930054b16d?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=1#_Section1 |title=Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll rated 15 by the BBFC |publisher=Bbfc.co.uk |access-date=18 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007154124/http://bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/0/550684df5d1e6da9802576930054b16d?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=1 |archive-date=7 October 2011 }}</ref> The BBFC have also allowed it at the "12" level, in the case of well known works such as Hamlet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-royal-shakespeare-company-hamlet-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00mja4ota|title= The Royal Shakespeare Company - Hamlet|website=bbfc.co.uk|accessdate=3 May 2025}}</ref>

===Comedy===
In their [[Derek and Clive]] dialogues, [[Peter Cook]] and [[Dudley Moore]], particularly Cook, used the word in the 1976 sketch "This Bloke Came Up To Me", with "cunt" used 35 times.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.phespirit.info/derekandclive/live_02.htm | title = Derek & Clive – "This Bloke Came Up To Me" | access-date = 6 April 2008 | archive-date = 15 February 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080215230945/http://www.phespirit.info/derekandclive/live_02.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> The word is also used extensively by British comedian [[Roy 'Chubby' Brown]], which ensures that his [[Stand-up comedy|stand-up]] act has never been fully shown on UK television.<ref name = "Chubby"/>

Australian stand-up comedian [[Rodney Rude]] frequently refers to his audiences as "cunts" and makes frequent use of the word in his acts, which got him arrested in Queensland and Western Australia for breaching obscenity laws of those states in the mid-1980s. Australian comedic singer [[Kevin Bloody Wilson]] makes extensive use of the word, most notably in the songs ''Caring Understanding Nineties Type'' and ''You Can't Say "Cunt" in Canada''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ozmusic-central.com.au/oztabs/uvw/wilson_kevinbloody/Caring%20Understanding%20Nineties%20Type.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050709141654/http://www.ozmusic-central.com.au/oztabs/uvw/wilson_kevinbloody/Caring%20Understanding%20Nineties%20Type.txt |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 July 2005 |title=Caring Understanding Nineties Type |access-date=6 April 2008}}</ref>

The word appears in American comic [[George Carlin]]'s 1972 standup routine on the list of the [[seven dirty words]] that could not, at that time, be said on American broadcast television, a routine that led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/george-carlin-seven-words-that-shook-a-nation-852833.html |title=George Carlin: Seven words that shook a nation, The Independent, June 24, 2008 |publisher=Independent.co.uk |date=24 June 2008 |access-date=18 December 2011 |location=London}}</ref> While some of the original seven are now heard on US broadcast television from time to time, "cunt" remains generally taboo except on premium paid subscription cable channels like HBO or Showtime. Comedian [[Louis C.K.]] uses the term frequently in his stage act as well as on his television show ''[[Louie (U.S. TV series)|Louie]]'' on [[FX (TV channel)|FX]] network, which bleeps it out.

In 2018, Canadian comedian [[Samantha Bee]] had to apologise after calling [[Ivanka Trump]] a cunt on American late night TV show ''[[Full Frontal with Samantha Bee]]''.<ref name="Mahdawi" />

===Music===
The 1977 [[Ian Dury and The Blockheads]] album, ''[[New Boots and Panties]]'', used the word in the opening line of the track "Plaistow Patricia", thus: "Arseholes, bastards, fucking cunts and pricks",<ref name="Plaistow">{{cite web |title=Ian Dury : New Boots and Panties |url=http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/magsitepages/Article.aspx?id=4487 |last=Clarkson |first=John |access-date=21 September 2011 |archive-date=25 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325175420/http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/magsitepages/Article.aspx?id=4487 |url-status=dead }}</ref> particularly notable as there is no musical lead-in to the lyrics.<ref>{{cite book|last=Warner|first=Alan|title=Can's Tago Mago|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_0ogBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT27|year=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-62892-110-6|page=27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Ian Dury & The Blockheads -New Boots And Panties!! 40th Anniversary album review | first = Everett | last =True | work = Classic Rock | date = 3 November 2017 | access-date = 21 March 2018 | url = http://teamrock.com/review/2017-11-03/ian-dury-the-blockheads-new-boots-and-panties-40th-anniversary-album-review}}</ref>

In 1979, during a concert at New York's [[The Bottom Line (venue)|Bottom Line]], [[Carlene Carter]] introduced a song about mate-swapping called "Swap-Meat Rag" by stating, "If this song doesn't put the cunt back in country, nothing will."<ref>[http://www.carlenecarterfanclub.com/press-group-299.html Carlene Carter: Hot Country Singer With Lots Of Cool] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408213656/http://www.carlenecarterfanclub.com/press-group-299.html |date=8 April 2014}}. Carlene Carter Fan Club. Retrieved 18 October 2010.</ref>{{Unreliable source?|reason=this is a fan site|date=October 2020}} However use of the word in lyrics is not recorded before the [[Sid Vicious]]'s 1978 version of "[[My Way]]", which marked the first known use of the word in a UK top 10 hit, as a line was changed to "You cunt/I'm not a queer".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/ttremastered/story/0,,2127431,00.html |title=The OMM top 50 covers |access-date=16 March 2008 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> The following year, "cunt" was used more explicitly in the song "Why D'Ya Do It?" from [[Marianne Faithfull]]'s album ''[[Broken English (album)|Broken English]]'': {{blockquote|Why'd ya do it, she screamed, after all we've said,<br />
Every time I see your dick I see her cunt in my bed.<ref>{{cite news |first=Simon|last=Price|title=Arts Etc: Rock & Pop – Faithfull: foul-mouthed and fabulous |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020317/ai_n12601024 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=17 March 2002 |access-date=23 April 2008}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>}}

The [[Happy Mondays]] song, "Kuff Dam" (i.e. "Mad fuck" in reverse), from their 1987 debut album, ''[[Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)]]'', includes the lyrics "You see that Jesus is a cunt / And never helped you with a thing that you do, or you don't". Biblical scholar James Crossley, writing in the academic journal, ''Biblical Interpretation'', analyses the Happy Mondays' reference to "Jesus is a cunt" as a description of the "useless assistance" of a now "inadequate Jesus".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Crossley |first=James |date=April 2011 |title=For EveryManc a Religion: Biblical and Religious Language in the Manchester Music Scene, 1976–1994 |journal=Biblical Interpretation |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=151–180 |doi=10.1163/156851511X557343 |publisher=Brill }}</ref> A phrase from the same lyric, "Jesus is a cunt" was included on the notorious [[Cradle of Filth]] T-shirt which depicted a [[masturbating]] nun on the front and the slogan "Jesus is a cunt" in large letters on the back. The T-shirt was banned in New Zealand, in 2008.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0807/S00009.htm|title=Censor's Ban on "Cradle of Filth" T-shirt|publisher=Society For Promotion Of Community Standards Inc.|date=1 July 2008 |access-date=13 September 2013}}</ref>

[[Liz Phair]] in "Dance of Seven Veils" on her 1993 album ''[[Exile in Guyville]]'', uses the word in the line "I only ask because I'm a real cunt in spring".{{cite AV media |people=Liz Phair |date=22 June 1993 |title=Exile in Guyville |medium=vinyl |format=Double LP|url=http://www.discogs.com/Liz-Phair-Exile-In-Guyville/master/26390 |id=Matador Records, OLE 051-1}}

The word has been used by numerous non-mainstream bands, such as the Australian band [[TISM]], who released an [[extended play]] in 1993 ''[[Australia the Lucky Cunt]]'' (a reference to Australia's label the "lucky country"). They also released a single in 1998 entitled "[[I Might Be a Cunt, but I'm Not a Fucking Cunt]]", which was banned.{{by whom|date=January 2022}}{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} The American [[grindcore]] band [[Anal Cunt]], on being signed to a bigger label, shortened their name to AxCx.<ref>{{cite news | date=10 July 2013 | title=The Dumbest Band Names of All Time: Anal Cunt | magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-dumbest-band-names-of-all-time-20130710/9-anal-cunt-0855465 | access-date=4 August 2017 | archive-date=4 August 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804214906/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-dumbest-band-names-of-all-time-20130710/9-anal-cunt-0855465 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Computer and video games===

The 2004 title ''[[The Getaway: Black Monday]]'' by [[Sony Computer Entertainment|SCEE]] used the word several times during the game.<ref>[http://au.ign.com/articles/2004/11/30/the-getaway-black-monday "THE GETAWAY: BLACK MONDAY"], 30 November 2004, {{cite web |url=http://au.ign.com/ |title=Video Games, Wikis, Cheats, Walkthroughs, Reviews, News & Videos - IGN |access-date=19 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210224149/http://au.ign.com/ |archive-date=10 December 2014 }}</ref>

In the 2008 title ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]'' (developed by [[Rockstar North]] and distributed by [[Take Two Interactive]]), the word, amongst many other expletives, was used by James Pegorino who, after finding out that his personal bodyguard had [[Turn state's evidence|turned states]], exclaimed "The world is a cunt!" while aiming a shotgun at the player.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2007/03/FF_160_rockstar?currentPage=all |title=The Road to Ruin: How Grand Theft Auto Hit the Skids |date=29 March 2007 |access-date=17 June 2008 |magazine=Wired |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505235747/http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2007/03/FF_160_rockstar/?currentPage=all |archive-date=5 May 2008}}</ref>