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genderterrorist 's review for:
SCUM Manifesto
by Valerie Solanas
Well, here we are.
How does one describe this book? It's controversial. Notorious.
Thinking about reading it made me exhausted; I hear "radical feminism" or "second wave feminism" and my transphobia radar goes off like a fucking siren. This was no exception. But, I had to read this. It was itching at my brain; I knew at some point I'd have to give in and read this -- this is the "crazy woman who shot Andy Warhol. But, as I got older and learned that Warhol was a big shit head, I got more and more curious about Valerie Solanas. Turns out her motivation to shoot him wasn't entirely without cause. But that's a story for another day.
This book is, of course, riddled with transphobia; transgender women are repeatedly referred to as "male-females" who are so distressed at not being superior to women that they choose to emulate a woman. I expected it. Doesnt make it any less gross, but still expected.
I think the most surprising and simultaneously frustrating thing about this book is that Solanas, at times, makes really valid points and criticisms of patriarchy, of maleness, of male violence. It's just where she veers off is at the solutions point -- her solution is just to kill all men and to mentally destroy "the few good ones" who submit to women. At times, she criticizes the influence of patriarchy upon the family -- okay! This is a valid point, but then she goes on to say that these men get so angry and desperate in patriarchy that they become gay or seek to pretend to be women, so she just totally veers off.
This book is said to be satire, or "maybe" a satire, but it's also said that Solanas was serious. We may never truly know. Solanas was very serious in what followed this book, which was shooting Andy Warhol.
Valerie Solanas was a complex figure; a dejected butch writer and playwright who just wanted to be seen and be heard-- she certainly made a name for herself. The name of course was associated with notoriety, but there's no doubt that Valerie Solanas left her mark on feminism, women's studies, and the world.
How does one describe this book? It's controversial. Notorious.
Thinking about reading it made me exhausted; I hear "radical feminism" or "second wave feminism" and my transphobia radar goes off like a fucking siren. This was no exception. But, I had to read this. It was itching at my brain; I knew at some point I'd have to give in and read this -- this is the "crazy woman who shot Andy Warhol. But, as I got older and learned that Warhol was a big shit head, I got more and more curious about Valerie Solanas. Turns out her motivation to shoot him wasn't entirely without cause. But that's a story for another day.
This book is, of course, riddled with transphobia; transgender women are repeatedly referred to as "male-females" who are so distressed at not being superior to women that they choose to emulate a woman. I expected it. Doesnt make it any less gross, but still expected.
I think the most surprising and simultaneously frustrating thing about this book is that Solanas, at times, makes really valid points and criticisms of patriarchy, of maleness, of male violence. It's just where she veers off is at the solutions point -- her solution is just to kill all men and to mentally destroy "the few good ones" who submit to women. At times, she criticizes the influence of patriarchy upon the family -- okay! This is a valid point, but then she goes on to say that these men get so angry and desperate in patriarchy that they become gay or seek to pretend to be women, so she just totally veers off.
This book is said to be satire, or "maybe" a satire, but it's also said that Solanas was serious. We may never truly know. Solanas was very serious in what followed this book, which was shooting Andy Warhol.
Valerie Solanas was a complex figure; a dejected butch writer and playwright who just wanted to be seen and be heard-- she certainly made a name for herself. The name of course was associated with notoriety, but there's no doubt that Valerie Solanas left her mark on feminism, women's studies, and the world.