SCUM Manifesto"Life in this society being, at best, an utter bore and no aspect of society being at all relevant to women, there remains to civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and destroy the male sex." Outrageous and violent, SCUM Manifesto was widely lambasted when it first appeared in 1968. Valerie Solanas, the woman who shot Andy Warhol, self-published the book just before she became a notorious household name and was confined to a mental institution. But for all its vitriol, it is impossible to dismiss as the mere rantings of a lesbian lunatic. In fact, the work has proved prescient, not only as a radical feminist analysis light years ahead of its time-predicting artificial insemination, ATMs, a feminist uprising against underrepresentation in the arts-but also as a stunning testament to the rage of an abused and destitute woman. In this edition, philosopher Avital Ronell's introduction reconsiders the evocative exuberance of this infamous text. |
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Common terms and phrases
Andy Warhol animalism attempting to prove automated society automation AVITAL Avital Ronell biological calls capable classical unity completely contempt conversation cowardly Culture Daddy Daddy’s Girl death Derrida destroy dominant drag queen educated emotional emotionally enemy eventually everything exist fact Factory father fatherhood fear feel female’s feminine feminist fucking function garbage goal groove Harron hate he’s highly hippy incapable incomplete female individuality insecure Jacques Derrida kids kill lack language lesbian Lesbian Avengers live machine male artist male needs male’s Mama man’s Mary Harron means Men’s Auxiliary mindless momentarily money system mother nice Nietzsche Nietzschean one’s pandering phallogocentric philosophical physical politeness problem psychoticization pussy respect Ruby Rich scientists screwing SCUM MANIFESTO SCUM’s self-confident shit shooting social society Solanas’s target technologies thrill-seeking totally sexual turd typewriter Übermensch unable to relate unwork utter bore Valerie Solanas Valerie’s Verso wants what’s woman women