The story of Ama Aidoo In the Cutting of a Drink tells about gender inequality, which is expressed in the clash between the typical values of rural residents and the values of people living in the city. The story is told by a person who directly faced the problem of sexual inequality himself. The main character has not seen his sister for a long time and goes searching for her in the city of Accra. In the city, they are overcome by a sense of misunderstanding since he is among people whose values he is not used to, and they are new to him.
The most important aspect of this work is the attitude towards women, which shows that the female sex was perceived as a commodity. The author demonstrates this through the narrator’s sister Mansa, who sells herself in a nightclub in Accra. The capitalist system of the city forces women to drive themselves into slavery, which is generally accepted there. Mansa says that work is work, from which it can be concluded that women do not want to change it (Aidoo, 1970). A woman is not considered as a mother or a wife but only as a commodity.
The main character is faced with all the horror of the capitalist system of Accra, which forces women to sell their bodies and spend time with different men. Some men are ready to pay for it and have no further obligations toward these women. In turn, women are ready for this since their main goal is survival. The realization that women are ready to be just a commodity is revealed to the main character. At the end of the story, he realizes that any work is work. The problem of gender inequality exists, and, unfortunately, it is quite difficult or almost impossible to eradicate it. This story interested me precisely because such a problem still takes place in some undeveloped countries.
Reference
Aidoo, A. (1970). In the cutting of a drink. Longman.