41. The Danish Girl

Kaylia and, special guest, Jess talk about The Danish Girl. Or, to be more honest, Kaylia and Jess rant about what should have been called “Gerda’s Very Sad Decade” We talk fan fiction of real people, the low bar for transgender stories, the historical inaccuracies, and all the missed opportunities, so many missed opportunities.

The Danish Girl is a 2015 biographical romantic drama film directed by Tom Hooper, based on the 2000 novel of the same name by David Ebershoff, and loosely inspired by the lives of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener.

Kyle Buchanan, writing for Vulture, complained that it was part of a trend of “queer and trans films that are actually about straight people”

The Danish Girl has been criticized for being written similarly to forced feminization erotica, obscuring the actual story of a historical trans person, and for being based on a fictional book that does not tell the true story of Lili and Gerda Wegener. Redmayne’s casting as Elbe also received some criticism due to the casting of a cisgender actor in a transgender role, which Redmayne acknowledged in an interview with Indiewire around the time of the film’s release. In a 2018 GQ interview, he admitted he was unsure if he should have accepted the role in retrospect

This Pages and Popcorn Podcast episode was produced by Kaylia Metcalfe and featured “Pages and Popcorn Podcast (with Special Guest) Theme” / M.D. Arms

PagesAndPopcornPodcast · 41. The Danish Girl

List of books to read about the transgender expierence that will probably be more worth your time than The Danish Girl

PFLAG list of transgender books

Another list of better trans literature books.

10 Books By Trans Authors That Will Change Your Life

Transgender and Gender Fluid Books for Kids, Young Adults and Adults

Jess’s Personal Recommendation: Stone Butch Blues

The Gender Book

Show Notes

Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist educated primarily in Germany; he based his practice in Berlin-Charlottenburg during the Weimar period. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee. Historian Dustin Goltz characterized this group as having carried out “the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights. Hirschfeld’s radical ideas changed the way Germans thought about sexuality.Hirschfeld was targeted by Nazis for being Jewish and gay, he was beaten up by völkisch activists in 1920, and in 1933 his Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was sacked and had its books burned by Nazis, forcing him into exile.

Special Thanks to our Special Guest: Jess!

(Pictured here with Kaylia in January 2017)

Contact Jess at the Fresno EOC Sanctuary Services LGBTQ+ Resource Center

Email: lgbtq@fresnoeoc.org
Instagram: @fresnoeoc.lgbt / Twitter:@FresnoEoc_Lgbtq / Facebook: @FresnoEOC.LGBTQ

We talk a lot in this episode about transgender issues. But, we only scratch the surface. We encourage you to click on the links, check out the graphics, and familiarize yourself with the struggles faced by the transgender community.

A Resource about the Transgender Spectrum

Another really great resource for those that want to go a bit deeper in regards to language.

November 20th was Transgender Day of Remembrance. At the time of this writing, 350 transgender people had died in the year 2020 simply for being trans. These people deserved the freedom and safety to live their authentic lives and the only way to make that number smaller next year is for each of us to do our part.