THE OBENSON REPORT

I'd previously heard about the S.C.U.M. Manifesto some years ago, in passing, but never bothered to look it up and read it... until now! I don't even remember how I got reintroduced to it and its creator, Valerie Solanas. I know it happened over this past weekend, likely as I was researching something else. The web is a minefield of links, daring you to click on them, to find out what exists on the other side. And how could I not follow a link with an acronym like S.C.U.M., AKA, Society for Cutting Up Men!

For those not familiar with the story, Valerie Solanas shot and almost killed Andy Warhol in the late 60s. Her reasons? "He had too much control over my life," she said at the time. She formed S.C.U.M. in the same year, which was followed by the creation of the manifesto, essentially a separatist feminist attack on patriarchy. Much like Marcus Garvey and other black nationalists called for a separate black state, Solanas, S.C.U.M. and the manifesto, championed the creation of a separate female society. The more I read, the more fascinated I was by Solanas and the many bold statements made within the manifesto, especially when the era in which it was created is considered! I've read assorted works from the bibliography of bell hooks, but nothing quite compares to some of what I read in the manifesto!!

In reading the entire manifesto over the weekend, I can honestly say that there are pieces of it that I, as a man, cannot debate nor deny entirely. There are some truths within, and as we all probably know, the truth can be a hard pill to swallow, especially when stated bluntly and reflects negatively on the "swallower." There are also some rather inflammatory, venomous statements within the manifesto that discredit the author, although maybe not entirely; but they certainly make one question her state of mind.

If you haven't read the S.C.U.M Manifesto, you can do so HERE. It's quite long, but I think worth the read. Apparently, it's been an influential piece of work, with other feminist writers quoting from it, films made about it, musicians referencing it, etc... I'm still pondering all that I read, and will likely read it again, and return with a more in-depth personal analysis at a later date.

It's said that Solanas later tried to distance herself from the group and the literature; although I wish she maintained her commitment to both, and what they stood for! Own it! Claim it! Don't backtrack! Especially if what you said or wrote is really what you believe... although I accept that people evolve over time.

Here are some excerpts from the Manifesto:

"The conflict, therefore, is not between females and males, but between SCUM -- dominant, secure, self-confident, nasty, violent, selfish, independent, proud, thrill-seeking, free-wheeling, arrogant females, who consider themselves fit to rule the universe, who have free-wheeled to the limits of this `society' and are ready to wheel on to something far beyond what it has to offer -- and nice, passive, accepting `cultivated', polite, dignified, subdued, dependent, scared, mindless, insecure, approval-seeking Daddy's Girls, who can't cope with the unknown, who want to hang back with the apes, who feel secure only with Big Daddy standing by, with a big strong man to lean on and with a fat, hairy face in the White House, who are too cowardly to face up to the hideous reality of what a man is, what Daddy is, who have cast their lot with the swine, who have adapted themselves to animalism, feel superficially comfortable with it and know no other way of `life', who have reduced their minds, thoughts and sights to the male level, who, lacking sense, imagination and wit can have value only in a male `society', who can have a place in the sun, or, rather, in the slime, only as soothers, ego boosters, relaxers and breeders, who are dismissed as inconsequent by other females, who project their deficiencies, their maleness, onto all females and see the female as worm."