A special interview with Sarah Schulman
This week, FEMINIST sat down with novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, and AIDS historian, Sarah Schulman, to explore the meaning of feminism, the tension between fantasy and necessity in solidarity work, and the radical honesty required to build a liberated future.
Sarah Schulman is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, and AIDS historian. Her 20 books include the novel The Cosmopolitans and Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York 1987-1993, a finalist for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction and winner of the 2022 Lambda Literary LGBTQ Nonfiction Award, the Publishing Triangle Special Award for Nonfiction, and the 2022 NLGJA Excellence in Book Writing Award. Schulman is the Endowed Chair in Nonfiction at Northwestern University and serves on the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace.
What does being a feminist mean to you?
The dream of full economic, bodily, political, psychological autonomy and the full integration of our perspectives into public culture.
Your activism journey started in childhood, when you protested the Vietnam War with your mother. What are the main influences that shaped you into the artist and activist that you are today?
When I was six years old I wrote, "When I grow up I will write books." So it has been an organic part of my self-understanding for the entirety of my life. Where that comes from is probably a combination of neurology and influence. In my generation- I was born in 1958- The Diary of Anne Frank and Harriet The Spy showed girls that we could become writers, and many had diaries, or like Harriet carried around notebooks.
Congratulations on publishing your new book, The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity! What prompted you to write this book in today’s political climate?
It started with a piece I wrote in New York Magazine on October 16, 2023 called "Explanations are Not Excuses" boldly insisting that trying to understand history, context, and the relationship between originating actions and their consequences, is necessary to have a realistic view of our own world. Of course it closed many doors, but it opened others.
Your book approaches the concept of solidarity from the perspective of fantasy, which is a really interesting approach. Could you tell us more about what the “fantasy of solidarity” means to you?
The book surveys an interesting range of creative individuals and under historicized movements who tried creative approaches to solidarity and had some success and some failure. I think a great example from the book of "The Fantasy and Necessity" is my recounting of a European Underground Abortion Railroad that took place between France and Spain shortly after the death of Spanish Fascist dictator Francisco Franco. Abortion was still illegal in Spain, and it was also illegal to leave Spain to obtain an abortion outside, similar to some initiatives US states are seeking today. A group of French feminists started to bring Spanish women into the South of France and were helping them get abortions from French gynecologists. Then they would give each woman a small task- like talking to someone else who wanted to come but needed to be reassured- that sort of thing. Well, most of them wouldn't do it. They had been raised under fascism after all. The question then becomes, with the refusal to help others in the same condition- was this project a failure? The conclusion was that it was a Necessity because these women got the abortions that they needed, but the "Fantasy" was that this one experience would undo a lifetime of training and make them be just like the French women. I hope that illustrates the polarity.
A lot of your latest work focuses on the Palestinian struggle for justice. How does this intersect with our fight for queer and feminist justice?
Aside from the reductive answer that there are feminist and queer movements in Palestine- there is a much larger frame. A nation that is being mass murdered in Gaza, facing constant violence, home demolition and wanton arrest in the West Bank, and now seeing Palestinians in the diaspora being arrested in the United States for expressing free speech on campus- it is clear that Palestinians do not have autonomy to build their own society. Women and queers thrive within open societies. I remember hearing the American feminist Ti-Grace Atkinson remark that women can only advance when men advance because of male ownership over social structures.
You've done so much amazing work throughout your career, from co-founding the Lesbian Avengers to serving on the advisory board for the Jewish Voice for Peace and co-directing the ACT UP Oral History Project. What are some of the most powerful examples of solidarity that you’ve seen during your activism journey?
Well one of the great frustrations of my life- and one of the areas in which I desperately need solidarity is the absence of plays from the American canon with adult lesbian protagonists, and this is joined by a paucity of novels coming from American publishing with authentic, complex adult lesbian protagonists. So - in my book- I tell the story of Jeremy O Harris- the only man in the history of the American theater willing to give up a production of his own play, in order to win productions for women playwrights. How it went is fascinating and illustrative, but you will have to read the book to find out what happened.
On a personal note, what are some everyday actions that you take to stay true to your values and maintain a sense of hope?
My goal is internal coherence. Expanding and maintaining our integrity is the only arena in which we have control.
What are the most impactful actions our community take to create a liberated future for all?
We are in the midst of a cataclysm and there is no quick fix (The "Fantasy".) But right now the resistance to Trumpism and in relation to Palestine- Bidenism- is multi pronged. Lawyers have become our heros and they are on the front lines- but Trump has dismantled the enforcement system. Public protest is necessary- both mass events and also the ongoing work from people like Within Our Lifetime, Jewish Voice for Peace, and brave students on campuses across the country. The public stands by increasing numbers of establishment figures: elected officials, mainstream journalists, The president of Princeton, for example- all of this resonates.
My suggestion for people is that - if there is an already existing organization that you can tolerate- please join it- whether your block association, tenants union, Jewish Voice for Peace, or Working Families Party- or anything that speaks to you.
And if you can't find anything you can stand- find two people to meet with once a week- in person- and read the newspaper together. Build community and movement infrastructure for the rough future.
