Abstract:
Video games play a significant role in promulgating dualistic gender roles and
prescribing sexual identities. Situated within the broad theoretical framework of
postfeminism, this explorative study analyses the distinctive articulation of masculinity
in the post-apocalyptic video game, The last of us (2013 Naughty Dog). While it has
been argued that video games are still firmly rooted in a distinctively patriarchal
version of hegemonic masculinity and its attendant association with competition,
domination, and aggression, we investigate the emergence of a different representation
of a male protagonist as morally complex, intuitive, and emotional. In an attempt to
gain a better understanding of this transformed representation of masculinity, we
explore the ways in which disillusionment with patriarchal masculine values becomes
evident in the post-apocalyptic setting of The last of us. We investigate the implications
of this transformation of traditional heroic masculinity in video games for the
negotiation of male identities in this sphere of visual culture.
