SCUM Manifesto
A radical call for women's liberation and societal change
Valerie Solanas author Avital Ronell editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Verso Books
Published:5th Apr '16
Should be back in stock very soon
Valerie Solanas's SCUM Manifesto offers a radical feminist critique of society, advocating for the overthrow of oppressive systems and the empowerment of women.
In SCUM Manifesto, Valerie Solanas presents a radical critique of society, particularly focusing on the oppression of women. The text opens with a stark portrayal of life in a world where women feel marginalized and irrelevant. Solanas argues that the only viable solution for civic-minded, thrill-seeking women is to dismantle the existing structures of power, including the government and the monetary system. Her extreme propositions challenge readers to reconsider the status quo and reflect on the systemic injustices faced by women.
Originally published in 1968, SCUM Manifesto was met with significant backlash, often dismissed as the ravings of a troubled mind. However, Solanas's insights have proven to be surprisingly prescient. She anticipated advancements such as artificial insemination and ATMs, and her call for a feminist uprising resonates with contemporary conversations about gender representation in various fields, including the arts. The manifesto serves as a powerful testament to the anger and frustration of a woman who had faced severe societal neglect and abuse.
In this edition, philosopher Avital Ronell provides an introduction that reexamines the fervent energy of Solanas's work. By framing SCUM Manifesto within a broader historical context, Ronell invites readers to engage with its themes in a new light, recognizing its significance as a classic statement of radical feminism and a reflection of the complexities of gender dynamics.
The SCUM Manifesto is a document of profound vulnerability, written in a voice of profound empowerment. It's a brutal call to arms, written by a woman in a world of hurt. This tension between powerlessness and power makes it an enduring piece of writing. Never have the personal and the political been so mercilessly zipped together, like little steel teeth. -- Claire Dederer * Nation *
Solanas is as relevant today as she was in the 1960s, because nothing much has changed for women. -- Julie Bindel * Spectator *
You either happen to think this is a work of unadulterated genius, or you dismiss it as the ravings of a loony psycho-bitch, not understanding that this is exactly what makes it so compelling and so charged with insight. -- Suzanne Moore * New Statesman *
Valerie Solanas wrote a very angry and very precise portrait of what she considered the male to be: something between a human and an ape; an unresponsive blob only concerned with physical sensation and without the capacity for empathy or self-knowledge or intimacy, and at the same time full of hatred and jealously and shame and guilt. Her description is beautiful and on some level, I think, entirely accurate. -- Nick Cave
Its nihilism is a form of utopia for Solanas, a pre-punk aesthete who fearlessly tossed out ideas that people are just now beginning to raise . As a mixture of social philosophy and fine shtick, her work has the rare virtue of seeming at the same time totally insane and totally right. * Los Angeles Times *
As Solanas reminds us, revolutionary ideas don't emerge quietly from the elite stratum of a society; they often bloom from its scum. * Dissent *
Articulate, angry and funny. * Guardian *
Gleefully incoherent, crackling with energy. * Bookslut *
ISBN: 9781784784409
Dimensions: 191mm x 133mm x 8mm
Weight: 116g
96 pages