Guns and Gender Roles in Dystopian Settings

Abstract

ABSTRACT Dystopian settings are often dominated by fear and despair. As instruments and symbols of fear, guns, especially deployed in gendered ways, reinforce the dystopian setting. This article explores how guns and gender roles are represented in three dystopian novels (The Turner Diaries, The Road, and Parable of the Sower) and three dystopian films (Zardoz, The Terminator, and The Road). Examining how phallocentric aggression and toxic masculinity shape how guns are wielded by a number of characters in several of these films and novels, the article also suggests how critical dystopias offer insights into the conditions that create dystopia and impede alternative and better futures. By providing interpretive interventions into the constructions of the specific dystopian settings and the deployment of guns, the article offers new insights into the interface between gender, guns, and dystopia.