Author: Rose Owen, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago - Personal Website, ORCID

Abstract: »Turning to Valerie Solanas, the second wave writer famous for shooting Andy Warhol, this paper reconstructs a forgotten argument for the feminist use of violence. In the SCUM Manifesto, Solanas calls for women to commit gendercide against men to build a feminist utopia. Solanas rejects separatism because it cedes the world to men, instead arguing that women must use violence to reclaim and change the world. Solanas thus sees violence as a world-making project. During the second wave, Solanas' shooting of Warhol fractured feminism into liberal and radical camps: liberals rejected Solanas, and radicals embraced her. Both sides of the feminist divide, however, turned away from violence as a political tactic. Even sympathetic radicals adopted separatist agendas that sanctioned violence only for the purpose of self-defense. I argue that the reaction to Solanas by her contemporaries, and the erasure of her from history, is symptomatic of a feminist allergy to violence. Returning to Solanas' work and life raises once again the question that remains suppressed in feminist thought: is violence a justifiable means to achieve feminist ends« (Source: New Political Science)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. 105)
	Introduction (p. 105)
	Taking Solanas Seriously (p. 108)
	The Uses of Violence in the SCUM Manifesto (p. 110)
	Solanas' Violence Disavowed (p. 115)
	Conclusion (p. 120)
	Acknowledgements (p. 121)
	Disclosure statement (p. 121)

Wikipedia: History of the Americas: History of the United States | Feminism: Radical feminism / Valerie Solanas, SCUM Manifesto | Sex and the law: Sexual violence