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previous round: https://www.behindthename.com/bb/game/5559099

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⭐️

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This Round: Gerda Wegener

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Gerda Marie Fredrikke Wegener was a Danish illustrator and painter. Her father had Huguenot ancestry and her family was conservative. Wegener is known for her fashion illustrations and later her paintings that pushed the boundaries of gender and love of her time. These works were classified as Lesbian erotica at times and many were inspired by her partner, the transgender woman Lili Elbe.

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Wegener's work was often of confident and elegant women performing a variety of activities in either a Renaissance inspired style, Art Nouveau or Art Deco style. The images tended to show women posing or participating in artistic endeavors such as theatre, literature, and dance. Later on in France, Wegener created work showing women displaying seductive power or engaging in sexual activities. This risqué art was considered "lesbian erotica" and published in illicit art books.

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Along with shifting how women are represented in art, Wegener also challenged gender and sex identity roles in her work. She did this in small ways, such as drawing men with slender bodies and soft lines, or by painting her transgender partner, Lili Elbe. She met fellow artist Lili Elbe – then known as Einar Wegener – at art school.

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Elbe began to wear female clothing, and adopted her female name and persona, becoming Gerda Wegener's favourite model, in paintings of beautiful women with haunting almond-shaped eyes dressed in chic fashions. In 1913, the art world was shocked when they learned that the model who had inspired her depictions of petite femmes fatales was in fact her husband.

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As Elbe adopted her female identity, Gerda Wegener commonly introduced her as Einar Wegener's cousin when she was dressed in female attire. In 1930 Elbe underwent one of the first sex reassignment surgeries. As Danish law at the time did not recognize marriage between two women, their marriage was annulled in October 1930 by King Christian X. Elbe died in 1931 from complications of the surgery.

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⭐️

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Choose your favourite Gerda Wegener painting or illustration

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1) Sur la Route d’Anacapri (1922)

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2) On the Banks of the Loire (the Artists’ Colony at Beaugency) (1926)

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3) Girl and Pug in An Automobile (1927)

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4) Lili Elbe (c. 1928)

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5) Moroccan Newlyweds (Aicha and Djialli) (1931-1934)

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6) Madonna and Child, Surrounded by Musical Angels (1935)

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7) Portrait of a Woman Reading with a Dog

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8) The Ballerina Ulla Poulsen in the Ballet Chopiniana

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⭐️

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THE NEXT GENERATION

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- Optional second middle name initial is the letter “G”

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Links are optional

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1) Child six, a son
- His first name contains the double letters “LL”
- His middle name is from a children’s book

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2) Child one, a daughter
- Her first name is medieval (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/tag/medieval)
- Her middle name is a noble (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/tag/nobles)

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3) Child two, a daughter
- Her first name is “wealthy” (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/tag/wealth)
- Her middle name is a Babysitters Club character (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/tag/babysitters_club_characters)

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4) A child of your choice, a son
- His first name contains the letter “V”
- His middle name is a book in the Bible

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5) Child three, a son
- His first name is from this list: https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/masculine/tag/ascetics
- His middle name ends in the letter “T”

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6) A child of your choice, a daughter
- Her first name and middle name are Elder Scrolls characters (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/tag/elder_scrolls_characters)

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7) Child four, a son
- His first name is related to birds (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/masculine/tag/birds)
- His middle name is related to an animal (the non feather kind) (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/masculine/tag/animals)

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8) Child five, a daughter
- Her first name is “youthful” (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/tag/youth)
- Her middle name is the first or last name of a handball player (https://www.behindthename.com/namesakes/category/sports/gender/f/keyword/handball/alpha)

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formerly Belphoebe

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⭐️

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I am in the mood
to dissolve
in the sky.
- Virginia Woolf

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