Kurt Cobain on the “incredible ideas” of Valerie Solanas
The prevailing image of Kurt Cobain is often one of a scruffy grunge icon in ripped jeans, but the Nirvana frontman was so much more than what Primark T-shirts would have you believe. Not only was Cobain arguably one of the most talented songwriters of the 1990s, he was a deeply intellectual person with a great love for art and literature.
Often lauded as a genius, Cobain’s talented lyricism and strained vocals remain as beloved today as they were during his period recording with Nirvana. In addition to his deep knowledge and appreciation for punk and alternative rock history, the songwriter immersed himself in classic literature from a young age.
The Nirvana frontman was particularly noted for his appreciation of counterculture authors and the Beat Generation, with William S. Burroughs a particularly prominent influence. A more obscure and off-the-wall favourite of Cobain, however, was the radical feminist Valerie Solanas, whose major work SCUM Manifesto is cited as a major influence on Kurt.
Solanas is often remembered for her attempted murder of pop artist Andy Warhol, but that instance negates her pioneering work as a radical feminist and outspoken lesbian in the 1950s. After experiencing a traumatic childhood, characterised by sexual abuse at the hands of her father and grandfather, the New Jersey-born psychologist wrote SCUM Manifesto after relocating to Berkeley.
As Cobain puts it, “[Solanas] was a militant feminist who, in my opinion, had some incredible ideas. Everybody called her insane because the ideas are pretty violent. [The book] pretty much says women should rule the earth, and I agree with it.”
Much of the frontman’s life was influenced by prominent women and female artists, so it is perhaps unsurprising that he has an appreciation for the radical feminism of Solanas, whose views are often deemed too severe by more liberal feminist groups.
What is the SCUM Manifesto?
Solanas’ book, SCUM Manifesto, is often cited as an acronym for ‘Society for Cutting Up Men’. Published in 1967, a year prior to the shooting of Warhol, the book asserts that the world has been ruined by men and that it requires direct action from women to fix this by ultimately eliminating the male sex.
A stunning self-published critique of patriarchy, SCUM was often considered too extreme by other feminist scholars such as Betty Friedan and has been criticised in more recent years, along with the radical feminist movement as a whole, for excluding the trans community.
For the time period at which the work was published, Solanas’ work was pioneering and unparalleled. Although it received little attention until she attempted the murder of Warhol and the subsequent trial that led to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, SCUM has since become a lauded and influential book. Acting as a sort of bible for the progressive feminist organisation Cell 16, Solanas went on to be a huge influence on many artists and musicians, including the Riot Grrrl movement and, of course, Kurt Cobain.
