Valerie Solanas, born in 1936, had a childhood marred by abuse, a traumatic experience that would shape her worldview and fuel her radical ideas. As a biology student at the University of Maryland in 1957, she delved into the study of human chromosomes, fascinated by the 23 pairs that make up our genetic code. Her research led her to a groundbreaking discovery: the male sex chromosomes, XY, were inherently inferior to the female XX chromosomes. The Y chromosome, with its missing piece, made males more prone to deficiencies like baldness, hemophilia, and colorblindness.
Solanas' findings sparked a profound realization: men were not only genetically inferior but also responsible for the world's problems, including war. Her convictions would eventually manifest in the SCUM Manifesto, a scathing critique of patriarchal society that gained a devoted following during the tumultuous 1960s. As the Vietnam War raged on, Solanas took to the streets of New York City, panhandling and living in a modest $25-a-week room.
A prolific writer, Solanas felt betrayed by publisher Maurice, who allegedly ripped her off by acquiring the rights to her work "Scum Manifesto" without her consent. Her anger and resentment only intensified when Andy Warhol, the infamous pop artist, took her script for a play without producing it. On June 3, 1968, Solanas' frustration boiled over, and she shot Warhol, an act that would forever cement her place in history.
Andy Warhol miraculously recovered from the shooting, but Solanas was not so fortunate. She spent three years in an Institute for the Criminally Insane before being released in 1971. Though she continued to attract a devoted following, Solanas' life was marked by relative obscurity. She died in San Francisco in 1988, her radical ideas and actions relegated to the annals of history.
