SCUM Manifesto

The SCUM Manifesto is a feminist tract written in 1968 by Valerie Solanas, who shot Andy Warhol. Some authors have argued that the text is a parody of patriarchy and the Freudian theory of femininity, where the word woman is replaced by man. The text contains all the clichés of Freudian psychoanalytical theory: the biological accident, the incomplete sex and "penis envy" which has become "pussy envy". Solanas also claimed that her writing was a satirical literary device  to elicit debate. Alice Echols has argued that the tract is misandric.

Though it has come to be said that "SCUM" stands for "Society for Cutting Up Men" (used in places such as The New York Times), this phrase actually occurs nowhere in the text. The word "SCUM" is used in the text in reference to a certain type of women, not to men. It refers to empowered women, "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". That "SCUM" was intended as an acronym was a "belated add-on," which Solanas later rejected.

Film
Scum Manifesto is also the title of a 1976 movie written by Solanas and directed by Carole Roussopoulos and Delphine Seyrig. Warhol later satirized the whole event in a subsequent movie, Women in Revolt, calling a group similar to Solanas' S.C.U.M., "P.I.G." (Politically Involved Girlies).

Solanas' creative work and relationship with Andy Warhol is depicted in the 1996 film, I Shot Andy Warhol, a significant portion of which relates to the SCUM Manifesto, and Solanas' disputes on notions of authorship with Warhol.

Literature
The title story of the Michael Blumlein short story collection, The Brains of Rats, employs the Manifesto to illustrate the male protagonist's hatred of himself and his gender.

Later in life, after serving a prison sentence for reckless assault with intent to cause bodily harm, Solanas tried to distance herself from the manifesto. In a July 25, 1977 interview with The Village Voice she claimed it was "Just a literary device... women who think a certain way are in SCUM. Men who think a certain way are in the men's auxiliary of SCUM."

Sisterhood is Powerful, a collection of radical feminist writing edited by Robin Morgan, included excerpts of the SCUM Manifesto.

Music
Solanas is quoted on the sleeve notes of the Manic Street Preachers debut album Generation Terrorists. Their song "Of Walking Abortion" on the album The Holy Bible is named after a quote from the manifesto. Liverpool punk band Big in Japan composed the song "Society for Cutting Up Men" directly inspired by the manifesto. San Francisco IDM group Matmos sampled the manifesto heavily in the satirical track "Tract for Valerie Solanas" on the album The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast. The London based post-punk/art rock group S.C.U.M. are named after Valerie Solanas' manifesto.