[dropcap]A[/dropcap]frican men as fools. African men as buffoons. This is just a general observation, I am not picking on any African writer. Seriously. Reading the works of several African writers who happen to be female, I am struck by the rising tide of misandry, that surging contempt for African men.
It manifests itself in many forms: African men as bumbling caricatures, relationship-averse, overweight butt-scratching, belching cave-men, usually absent (at least emotionally) from their kids, pathetic shadows of what they should be, perhaps as measured against an absurd asymptote – an idealized man drawn from Western feminist babblespeak.
While exaggeration is a useful tool for providing clarity in debates, I would say that much of what I am reading lately is over the top nonsense, mimicry of the chic contempt Western feminist militants hold for the evil men that live rent-free in their red-wine addled heads. I applaud the literary muscular strength of all our writers, but I call for a more original and nuanced analysis of the troubled relationship between men and women. As we say on Facebook, it is complicated. I shall be right back. I need to go do the dishes. No wahala.
Ikhide Ikheloa is a writer and literary critic. He is one of The Trent’s Elite Bloggers. He tweets from@ikhide.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
