Here is a comic I did for Bitch magazine’s “Adventures in Feministory”.

Lili and Gerda’s story has meant a lot to me, and Gerda’s illustration work has been such a gigantic influence on me, the two of them were a natural choice for this project. I remember finding Gerda’s erotic work and being immediately obsessed. Here was a woman artist in the 1920’s-30’s expressing desire for other women, being frank about sexuality in ways I wanted to be. Not to mention her art was divine, and ahead of it’s time, she floored me. I wanted to talk about Lili and Gerda because they were both brilliant women who’s lives were intimately entwined and who I feel absolutely had an effect on feminist history.

All of the information in the comic was taken directly from Lili’s Memoir, which was later published in English as a pulp novel with the sensationalized/exploitative title “Man into Woman”. It was unfortunately sold as a novelty, an “outstanding biological phenomenon”. Never the less, the book contains Lili’s descriptive, passionate account of her life as well as letters Lili wrote to her family, Gerda and others. Lili wrote the memoir in 1930-1931, so there are still some problematic ideas and words in it, (by our modern standards), but it’s her own account. It is worth noting also that Lili may have been intersex, which there didn’t seem to be a term for at the time. A majority of the memoir is spent with Lili expressing a great deal of emotional and physical pain. If you are interested in reading it, it could be triggering for some, as she also discusses contemplating suicide. The quote in the 7th panel comes directly from the book. Lili’s story is tragic, but she did find great happiness. She was also much more than simply a tragic story, she was a very accomplished painter, and piano player and she and Gerda traveled everywhere and were devoted to each other.

I feel that since a movie is coming out now (called The Danish Girl) based on their life together that I should comment on it.
First of all I disagree with the casting of Eddie Redmayne to play Lili Elbe. I like Eddie, but I don’t understand why a trans actor couldn’t have been cast. I can only hope that trans writers were consulted for the film.
Second of all, the trailer seems to imply that Gerda fought against Lili or was upset that she was losing her husband. This is unnecessary, fictionalized drama and is simply not the case. Gerda supported and helped Lili every step of the way. She seemed to only be upset by Lili’s unhappiness. A quote from Lili’s memoir (to Gerda) “Be thankful that you have believed in Lili to the last. You know that I have never been able to doubt her. I knew that the day would come…I am so happy.”

I don’t know that I can judge the movie much more based on a trailer alone. Certainly there are details in the trailer that line up with Lili’s memoir. The scene where Lili wears a dress and sits in as a model for Gerda to paint is a scene directly from the book. However, I hope it isn’t implied that Gerda is somehow forcing Lili into dressing as a woman, because while Gerda clearly encourages Lili in the memoir, she does not force anything upon her. If that is how Hollywood sees the situation, I think they’ve done some unfortunate interpretation.
Lili was Gerda’s favorite model, Lili mentions the many portraits Gerda paints of her. I had hoped that this movie would be about the great friendship and love between the two of them. To quote Gerda “I love you so much that I should like for you and me to be one being.” They were nearly inseparable through their days at school together and afterwards, and inspired each other relentlessly. But instead of a passionate story of love between two intelligent, artistic people I think we’ll be getting something more sensationalized.

To be fair, most of Lili’s memoir does focus on her transition, which is I think, problematically, what Hollywood loves about it. But I think this is because she lived in a time when there was literally NOTHING written about trans people. In the book she talks about scouring every medical book she can find on sexual subjects to no avail. She talks to doctor after doctor, who all disregard her or write her off as crazy. So, because of this extreme lack, I think she wrote her memoir as a way to document her experience, so that others might finally know it. Her story did reach people, Renee Richards, in her autobiography writes “When I saw a paperback with the title Man Into Woman on the stationary rack it stood out, as if in neon.”

It’s also worth noting that Hollywood probably finds this story attractive because Lili’s appearance fits into the hetero normative idea of what a woman is supposed to be. Lili’s story is not the story of all trans people. She was a unique person and it is unique to her.

Lili also happened to meet and be aided by one of my favorite people from history, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. Though the quote I use in my comic is not in reference to Lili, I felt it was a perfect example of his feelings towards GLBTQI people. The quote is from the silent film “Different From the Others” which was made to educate people, and in reaction to the German laws put into place making homosexuality a crime.

So go forth and check out some of Gerda Wegener’s artwork, it’s playful, sexy and clever. It’s a bit scarce and it makes me sad that she was so easily forgotten about when so many male erotic artists from that time were not.

Lili gave up painting after transitioning and not much of her work survives, but I highly suggest reading her book if you want to know her story in her own words.*

One of my favorite moments from the book is when Lili and Gerda stay at a hotel in the room in which Oscar Wilde spent his last days.
“The factotum of the hotel, Jean by name, lost no time in telling us that Oscar Wilde had spent his last days in these two rooms. He had died in the alcove with the red-diapered curtains. As Jean was telling us this, the tears ran down his ill-shorn cheeks.”…“We often sat in front of the broad window overlooking the garden and read page after page of the works of the poet, whom I had admired for many years. Gradually Grete and I came to know ‘De Profundis’ and 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol’ by heart. They were lovely evenings.”

There is a quote that Lili ends her memoir with, it is from a book by Hans Jager called Sick Love. I think the quote from Jager illustrates the desire she had for her memoir well.
“When I am no longer here I want my sad book of love to be my legacy, a testimony that I once lived. I imagine that this book will be read, read as few books are by all who are unhappy in love, into whose hands it shall fall year after year, and I feel as if I could shake them all by the hand. And I have such an unspeakable longing; it is in fact the only longing that I have, to say farewell to all—oh, none can realize what ultimate peace this would be for me.”

(please do not reblog this comic without the accompanying text.)

*Addendum: It should be noted that the book Man into Woman was published after Lili’s death, in 1933 by her friend Ernst Ludwig Harthern-Jacobson (under the pen name Niels Hoyer) who compiled her life history from her personal diaries in accordance with her last wishes. The book was translated and published in English in 1953.
Read more here and here