1. The problem of thinness: advertising generally impresses upon women the need to be thinner than is "normal" for most women. This way of looking at advertising connects images of thin women with the development of eating disorders.

2. Emphasis on beauty and looks as women's first priority in life: some theorists call this "lookism," which means the significance of physical beauty in people's lives, or the rating of people based on looks. Women are more subject to "lookism" than men are. [I personally think "lookism" is a weird term, but it's the only one available.] This emphasis on looks takes women's energies away from other-oriented activities such as work, volunteer activities and focuses that energy narcissistically on the self.

3. The "natural" state of the female body is perfection: in this view, anything not perfect needs to be covered up. There is an odd contradiction here, in that the idea is that femininity is perfect, but few of us actually achieve the perfection of embodied femininity, so we need help (foundation, lipstick, the right shampoo).

4. Women are sexy and sexually available all of the time: there's a little bit of Marilyn Monroe in all of us. For example, advertising rarely suggests the functionality of underwear, but emphasizes its sexiness, its value in sexually exciting men (who are off camera but implied as viewers). Women themselves are often portrayed as being excited by their own underwear.

5. Using/buying advertised products is presented as an act of emancipation or liberation: "You're worth it!" or "We've come a long way baby!" Feminism is co-opted by encouraging women to feel that their liberation from oppressive social norms can be purchased. In this scenario, feminism is about enhancing wardrobe or make-up, rather than equal rights or ending violence against women.

6. The standard for the female body is white: women of color or of indeterminate ethnicity (anything not explicitly white) are often used to suggest exoticness or foreign lands. This leads women of color to a problematic relation to dominant social codes signifying "proper femininity." Women of color often only represent a certain animalistic sexuality.

7. To look old is the worst thing that can happen to a woman: Wrinkles, bags under the eyes, softening skin, "age spots," in other words, all the normal things that a body does as it grows older are to be fought against with everything a woman has got (determination and money, usually, and lots of the latter). This is especially true of changes that happen to woman's body due to pregnancy and childbirth&emdash;i.e., the difficulty of achieving a flat stomach, which is a social value these days.

8. Some things are changing: For example, there are ads now that seem to simply celebrate women's strength and physical achievements (women are strong). But other ads that show women in unorthodox situations are more ambivalent, in that they suggest an uneasy compromise between active pursuits and traditional femininity.

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