Valerie Solanas

Valerie Solanas (Ventnor City, 1936 – San Francisco, 1988) was an American writer and radical feminist whose name is tied to two events: the self-published SCUM Manifesto and her 1968 shooting of artist Andy Warhol. Her work remains debated in discussions of radical feminism and of 1960s art, and she is remembered as much for the turbulence of her life as for her writing.

She was born in New Jersey into a difficult household. She later alleged that her father sexually abused her. At fifteen she left home and lived on the streets, and she gave birth to a son who was adopted out. She finished high school and earned a psychology degree at the University of Maryland, but the years that followed are poorly documented; she is believed to have survived by begging and prostitution in several cities.

In New York she wrote Up Your Ass, a play about a man-hating prostitute, and in 1967 she tried to get Andy Warhol to produce it. The script disappeared at Warhol's studio, the Factory, and Solanas began demanding money. Warhol gave her a small part in his film I, a Man. That same year she self-published the SCUM Manifesto, a pamphlet calling for the end of men. Its provocative tone has led some readers to treat it as satire, though Solanas insisted she meant it seriously.

On June 3, 1968, she shot Warhol and critic Mario Amaya. Warhol survived after a long operation, but the injuries affected him for the rest of his life. Solanas was convicted of attempted murder and spent long periods in psychiatric hospitals. After her release she faced further legal trouble and lived in poverty. She died in San Francisco in 1988 of pulmonary complications.

Her legacy is twofold. The SCUM Manifesto remains a reference point in feminist debates and appears in anthologies and studies. Her figure has also inspired songs, films, plays and novels that portray her in very different ways, from abuse survivor to brilliant provocateur. Her name is still more often linked to the shooting than to her writing.