our social infrastructure is what is prohibiting women from being free from the stereotype that women need to have a slim figure in order to obtain "respect" and attention from men. although women will not be on an even playing field as men for a long while in many aspects, the problems they face in regards to their mental social power and their physical social power are being recognized by society. campaigns for ads similar to the new dove true beauty line are attempts in recreating the idea for what a true woman of this age looks like. the problem with this is the fact that they are changing this idea by saying "these women are normally unwanted because of their body structure and appearance in modern day society, but you should try to be like them to change it, and take a big risk". this is a double bind because they are saying both "be like this" and "this is ugly". and because they are making these ads for skin cream, which ultimately implies the need to look younger, which is what our society is based off of. because in american society, something we need to keep hidden to the outside world are "the imperfections that are a part of us all" (Minkowitz). This is why it was such a shock when the show Xena hit the mainstream so well, especially since she showed qualities previously considered negative for women to have. typically, women in the media are judged to a fault, being criticized for trivial some things like smiling too much or being too fat. Many actresses "worried about looking 'overmasculine'. No woman television character has exhibited the confidence and strength of the male heroes of archetype and fantasy--or if she did, she was a one episode fluke" (Minkowitz), which furthers the trend of thinking of women as unconfident, nervous, self-questioning beings. Xena possessed all the qualities of a male leading figure, along with her own special personality traits. this type of personality along with a female dominated lead isn't generally accepted by males or, on occasion, females when supervised by "parents that object to Xena's feminist content" (Minkowitz). the normal trend of viewers to leading roles that are female shy away from men, at least that's what the conventional wisdom is among producers of children's television. each industry tries to appeal to the audience they think is watching, which in some cases are predominantly men. in these cases "alternate social types, such as sensitive men, gay men, and househusbands, scholars, poets, and political activists are noticeably absent" (Strate). These ads provide to men, sort of a social guidebook to becoming male, and anything seperate from these ideas is wrong and bad. therefore, women, who have few of these qualities since the ads try to exclude them, are looked down on in the aspects relating to the power of their bodies and minds.