Not Quite Total Recall: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Accusations of Nazism and the Aestheticization of the Political Body.

Not enough attention has been paid to the impact that sports and the aetheticization of the male body have had on the political and cultural landscape. The campaign of Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor of California during the recall election finally held on October 7, 2003 has provided an occasion to consider the intersection of masculinity, nationalism, sexuality, sport and politics as well as an interesting shift in the sensitivity to Nazism within American culture. The thesis of this paper is that the attempted use by those in opposition to the candidacy of Schwarzenegger of his alleged Nazi sympathies seriously backfired. Instead of destroying his aura as ?terminator?/strong man, this perception was reinforced. In order to analyze the many themes within this cultural moment, it is necessary to refer to the work of Reich, Mosse, the Frankfurt school among others. . It is obvious that politicians are now regularly recruited from the world of sports (Ventura, Watts, etc.). By making such an analysis, some of the trends in American politics and culture can be made manifest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]