Jennifer MekhailMon/Wed 2-3:1503/09/2014Race and Masculinity in Rambo IIIAn important period in United States history was the first wave of feminism, which began in the early 1900s and ended with the third wave in the 90s. The feminist movement was created to improve the lives of all women in this country. The movement aimed to create women's empowerment, better opportunities to receive education, and the possibility of having a career offering the same positions to men and women. Ultimately, women were fighting for their rights, freedom, equal opportunities, and complete control over their lives. Losing the Vietnam War in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was also a very difficult time for American men. Both of these issues may have caused American men to feel insecure or feel “less of a man.” During Reagan's presidency, he tried to break that personality. His philosophy was divided into two categories: “soft body” and “hard body”. He described the soft body as a "wandering body containing sexually transmitted diseases, immorality, illegal chemicals, laziness and endangered fetuses." In this system of thought marked by race and gender, the soft body invariably belonged to a woman and/or a person of color, while the hard body was like that of Reagan, male and white” (Jeffords Pg.24 , 25). normative body that encompassed strength, work, determination, loyalty, and courage—the “hard body,” the body that was to represent Reagan's philosophy, politics, and economics” (Jeffords, page 25). A great way to establish his philosophy is to create the films that represent him and the films of the 80s revolved around this. When you think back to the movie Rambo, a lot of it was dedicated to President Reagan. The film middle of paper ...... these scenes are to simultaneously offer and deny Reagan's promise of prosperity to viewers of the Rambo films. Rambo's painful self-surgery emphasizes that the national body can both heal itself while remaining strong and combat-ready despite its wounds, providing a reassuring form of "national pleasure" as audience members can identify with the tough national body that survives and defeats its enemies (Jeffords Pg. 51) It is very interesting to see how politics and the film industry become one. How clever it is for the film industry to use films to persuade or even manipulate audiences into agreeing or thinking like them. Reagan's philosophy, in my opinion, was more fantasy than reality. Regardless, with or without a hard body, we must keep in mind that movements make people believe they are not real and if we want to inspire change, every individual must take a stand..