Aidoo’s Men: Subverting Traditional Masculinity in Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes: A Love Story

Abstract

Much of the critical acclaim that Ama Ata Aidoo’s works have received has dealt with the relations between the genders. Attention has mainly focused on the domination of women by men as an oppressive force in women’s lives or the examination of her female characters as they try to negotiate their own place and space in a male dominated society that seeks to marginalize them. What appears lacking from the literature review is a sustained discussion of the male characters that people Aidoo’s works. This article critically examines the three major male characters in Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes: A Love Story as gendered characters who are as much trapped by their gendered roles as their female counterparts.