Hope for Change in the Post-Apocalypse

Gender Roles in The Last of Us

Abstract

This paper explores the portrayal of gender in the post-apocalypse by looking at the postapocalyptic video game The Last of Us. The paper uses scholarship on apocalypse, video
games, and gender to show that while the game adheres to some gender stereotypes it ultimately represents progress in its representation of gender roles. The paper uses examples of the game’s portrayal of its characters and its depiction of the consequences of violent masculinity in a zombie apocalypse to illustrate how a post-apocalyptic video game can take steps towards imagining new gender roles in the post-apocalypse.