Lili+Elbe

Joe Beckwith = **Lili Elbe** =

**Lili Elbe as Einar Wegner**

Lili Elbe was born in rural Denmark in 1882 as Einar Mogens Wegener. Lili is widely known as one of the first recipients of sex reassignment surgery. For most of her life, Elbe identified herself as a male. She was, in fact, a very successful male. Under the name Einar Mogens Wegener, she was a prolific artist. She decided to go by the name Lili Elbe after her male to female sex reassignment surgeries in 1930 (LGBT History Month, 2007). The biographic account of her sex reassignment surgery was initially detailed in 1933 (McKee, 1976). This story, //Man Into Woman,// was written by her close friend ELH Jacobson under the pseudonym of Niels Hoyer. Her story has served as inspiration for transgender individuals all over the world.

Wegener, although born a man, was often characterized as having many female characteristics. His face, body size, and feminine legs were some of his defining characteristics. This has led to the belief that Wegener may have been intersexual. Intersex individuals are those who have genetic, hormonal, and physical features that may be considered typical of both males and females (“Lili Eble”, 2009). Wegener resembled a woman so closely before his surgery that he even received a marriage proposal from a man who considered Wegener to be female. Wegener passed on this opportunity to be with his wife Gerda.

**Marriage and Personal Life**

Elbe (under her male identity Wegener) married Gerda Gottlieb who would become Gerda Wegener after their marriage (“Kidman”, 2011). Their marriage would soon become a controversial topic in mainstream society. When Gerda asked Einar to put on stockings and heels to help fill in for a missing model, Einar proceeded to do so with great reluctance. While filling in for the missing model, he was nicknamed Lili. Sitting in for female models became a regular occurrence for Einar. Eventually Einar, or Lily as he was called when in female character, began posing of his own accord. Einar felt more comfortable in women’s clothing than he had in men’s. Bernice L. Hausman of the Univeristy of Iowa English Department explains “Lili… was originally created to serve as a substitute model for Wegener’s artist wife but… became a companion to her and an escape from masculinity for Wegener himself” (Hausman, 1992). He regularly presented himself as a woman in public, while other people generally had no idea of his true identity (“Lili Elbe”, 2009). This secrecy would not last forever. As suspicion started to arise in the general population, Einar and Gerda moved to Paris to escape confrontation.

After discovering herself as a woman, Lili felt compelled to complete the transition into femininity. She decided to undergo a series of risky, unproven surgeries to remove her male parts and replace them with female reproductive organs in order to become a mother (“Lili Elbe”, 2009). Her ultimate desire was to be able to bear children. When word spread of her sexual transformation, people began to question Lili and Gerda’s marriage. King Christian X dissolved their marriage in October of 1930 (“Kidman”, 2011). This served as a critical juncture in the rights of LGBT couples while raising several potential moral and ethical dilemmas.

Since little was known about the immune system and other bodily functions at the time of operation, the surgical procedures that Lili went through had the potential to be fatal. For Lili, this was precisely the case. After her fifth operation, her body rejected its replacement parts and she died in September of 1931 near the age of 50 (LGBT History Month, 2007).

**Lili Elbe’s Impact on Modern Culture**

Lili Elbe’s story has gained plenty of attention in recent years. Much of this attention came from David Ebershoff’s 2001 novel //The Danish Girl//. This novel is soon to be adapted to the big screen in the upcoming film of the same title//. The Danish Girl// is a film based on the real life events of Lili Elbe. Perhaps one reason why the film is garnering so much attention is that Lili will be played by the world-famous Nicole Kidman (“Kidman”, 2011). Kidman’s performance may help shed light on the difficult lives of people living with gender identity issues and perhaps alter the way we communicate about sexual identity. Famous celebrities including Charlize Theron and Gwyneth Paltrow were each slated to play Gerda, but both bowed out before being replaced by Rachel Weisz (“Kidman”, 2011).

//Filthy Wonderful// is a song by the band “The Stripper Project” that is based on the life of Lili Elbe. The lyrics of the song include “Beautiful woman, painted on broken glass, hidden amongst the everyday, lying in the long grass… YY XY” (gugalyrics, 2008). The song aims to promote awareness of transgender individuals and encourages them (as well as any other confused individuals) to spread their wings and be proud to live in the body that they were given.

Organisation Intersex International explains that even if Lili had lived past her fifth operation, the cultural climate of the near future would likely have been extremely hostile towards her lifestyle. Lili would surely not fit in with the societal norms of Nazi Germany (“Lili Elbe”, 2009). This raises the issue of exactly where transgender individuals stand within our society.

Studies have shown that transgender individuals may be more common than we might initially think. The Human Rights Campaign estimates that up to 1 percent of the U.S. population may consider themselves transsexual, and up to 8 percent of people in a random study described themselves as being something other than strictly “male” or “female”. HRC also explains that “people who experience or express their gender differently from conventional or cultural expectations can encounter complex and unique challenges and stigma throughout their personal and professional lives” (Human Rights Campaign, 2011).

NLM Gateway, which is a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, explains that transgender individuals are not only stigmatized in society, but also face greater health risks. Since transgender individuals are often overlooked, they are significantly behind in the aspect of sexual education. There are also less structured organizations for transgendered individuals than there are in the gay community (Robinson, 1999). This, among other things, has led to the transgendered community having some of the highest rec orded HIV infection rates. Lack of sexual communication and education targeted at these stigmatized groups has proven to be harmful to their sexual health.

In the state of Illinois, transgendered persons generally have very few exclusive rights. Champaign and Urbana are two of only four cities in Illinois that provide protection from discrimination for transgendered individuals. These cities make up only 1% of the state. In the other 99%, it is considered legal to “fire, evict, or deny service to anyone simply because the individual’s gender doesn’t meet expectations” (Q&A, 2011).

**Sources**


 * 1) McKee, E. A. (1976). Transsexualism: a selective review. //Southern Medical Journal//, //69//(2), 185-187.
 * 2) //Lesbian gay bisexual transgender history month//. (2007). Retrieved from []
 * 3) Kidman to shoot ‘danish’ film in copenhagen . (2011, February 15). //The Copenhagen Post//, Retrieved from []=
 * 4) Lili elbe’s autobiography, man into woman. (2009, April 11). //Intersex in Australia//, Retrieved from []
 * 5) Hausman, B. L. (1992). Demanding subjectivity: transsexualism, medicine and the technologies of gender. //Journal of the History of Sexuality//, //3//(2), Retrieved from []
 * 6) Human Rights Campaign, Initials. (2011). //Transgender population and number of transgender employees// . Retrieved from []
 * 7) Robinson, B. (1999). Gender issues and hiv prevention policy: the transgender experience. //Proceedings of the National HIV Prevention Conference//, []
 * 8) //The stripper project filthy wonderful lyrics//. (2008). Retrieved from []
 * 9) //A q&a guide to transgender rights//. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.itstimeil.org
 * 10) Picture 1: Einar Wegener vs. Lili Elbe http://oiiaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/einar_lili_sml.jpg
 * 11) Picture 2: Lili Elbe and Gerda Gottlieb http://oiiaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/gerda_lili_470.jpg
 * 12) Picture 3: Filthy Wonderful by The Stripper Project http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0058/3462/products/filthy_medium.jpg?0