By the 1990s gender identity became one of the most interesting topics for writers, inter alia Hannu Mäkelä, whose writings have not been profoundly analysed yet. This paper aims at tracing changes in the gender identity concept in the Finnish literature at the turn of the 20th-21th centuries using as an example H. Mäkelä’s novel Pieni paikka Kerbihan (A small place Kerbihan) published in 1991. This novel illustrates shifts in the understanding of gender roles in the literature of early 1990s. The analysis focuses on a greater social freedom and independence of female characters (in family relations, jobs, finances, social mobility, and leisure activities). The representation of male characters highlights their ambiguity, uncertainty and incapacity to act or think independently. Having lost their traditional social dominance, they were merely adjusting to the new environment. The deadly disease of the main male character is a metaphor of his weakness, and his desperate attempts to cling to the outdated gender roles are ironically presented as pathetic.