Presented article aims on locating and investigating three crucial feminist concepts within US post 9/11 cinema relevant to the IR feminist research: the protector myth, the concepts of revenge and humiliation and thirdly workings of hegemonic/subordinated masculinities. This is to demonstrate the relevance and validity of these concepts and to discuss the severe implications these masculine constructions have for the world of politics, international relations, and military arena.
Additionally, this article argues that by associating masculinity with violence and aggression in the first place, the masculine discourse can be understood as a justification of violence as such. Furthermore, it draws a connection between hegemonic/subordinated masculinities and construction of Islam as "the other" subordinated masculinity.
Two mainstream US movies are analysed: American Sniper and Zero dark thirty.