Transgender in The Danish Girl Film and Yoshimoto’s Kitchen: Queer Criticism

Abstract

This article attempts to analyze the characters of Einar Wegener, who turns to be Lili Elbe, in The Danish Girl Film, and Eriko, a transwoman in Yoshimoto’s Kitchen. Both of them are transgender women, but their intentions behind it are completely different. The study aims at comparing two different literary works coming from two different cultures, nationalities, and historical background. Employing the Queer Criticism, this article unveils that Einar, The Danish Girl Film, wishes to change his gender and sexuality because of his desire to be a real woman. To get his new identity, he is willing to leave his wife, Gerda. While, Eriko, in Yoshimoto’s Kitchen, turns out to be a transgender mother in order to take good care of her only son, Yuichi, after ‘her’ wife dies. It is concluded that a sexual desire is the distinct factor found out in the study.