Portrayal of women in adverts

Goffman concludes that women are weakened by advertising portrayals via five categories: relative size(women shown smaller or lower, relative to men), feminine touch(women constantly touching themselves), function ranking(occupational), reutilization of subordination (proclivity for lying down at inappropriate times, etc.), and licensed withdrawal(women never quite a part of the scene, possibly via far-off gazes).
The following theoretical definitions in Goffman's Gender Advertisements are utilized in this study:

(1) Relative Size. One way in which social weight (e.g., power, authority, rank, office, renowned) is echoed expressively in social situations is through relative size, especially height. The male's usual superiority of status over the female will be expressible in his greater girth and height. It is assumed that differences in size will correlate with differences in social weight.

(2) Feminine Touch. Women, more than men, are pictured using their fingers and hands to trace the outlines of an object or to cradle it or to caress its surface or to effect a "just barely touching." This ritualistic touching is to be distinguished from the utilitarian kind that grasps, manipulates, or holds.

(3)Function Ranking. When a man and a woman collaborate face-to-face in an undertaking, the man is likely to perform the executive role. This hierarchy of functions is pictured either within an occupational frame or outside of occupational specializations.

(4) Reutilization of Subordination. A classic stereotype of deference is that of lowering oneself physically in some form or other of prostration. Correspondingly, holding the body erect and the head high is stereotypically a mark of unashamed ness, superiority, and disdain. The configurations of canting postures can be read as an acceptance of subordination, an expression of ingratiation, submissiveness, and appeasement.

(5) Licensed Withdrawal. Women more than men are pictured engaged in involvements which remove them psychologically from the social situation at large, leaving them unoriented in it and to it, and dependent on the protectiveness of others who are present. Turning one's gaze away from another's can be seen as having the consequence of withdrawing from the current thrust of communication. The individual also can withdraw his/her gaze from the scene at large, and be psychologically "away" from the scene. Maintaining a telephone conversation is another sign of licensed withdrawal.