RADIANT Journal of Applied, Social and Education Studies

Volume 1, No. 2, Desember 2020, hal. 115 - 128

DISNEY’S SEXIST LANGUAGE: FEMINIST STYLISTIC APPROACH IN

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017)

SAHRUL ROMADHON 1

Jurusan Sastra Inggris (Fakultas Adab dan Bahasa, IAIN Surakarta),

1

Surakarta
sahrul.gasrul@gmail.com

Abstract
Through the feminist stylistic on Walt Disney‘s Beauty and the
Beast (2017) Live-Action remake, the paper argues that Walt
Disney is not as inclusive and progressive as rumored, but
sexist. The study aims to uncover the characteristics of
sexism in the context of linguistic derived from a gender-
specific term. This study is qualitative research. The objects
and data of this analysis are determined by purposive
sampling. The object of this study is the text that appeared in
the film Beauty and the Beast (2017) on a live-action remake.
The data for this study are lexical items (single word, chain of
words, and part of a word) that relate to gender-specific. The
data analysed using the linguistic determinism theory of Sara
Mill's feminist stylistic framework. This study reveals the
presence of sexism at the word level. The findings are Walt
Disney‘s Beauty and the Beast (2017) Live-action remake
shows the use of generic-noun and generic-pronouns appear
in a sexist way, diminutive naming of gay and female
characters, and negative terms used to portray female
characters.

Keyword: Feminist stylistics, Sexism, Gender-specific, Walt

Disney, Live-action

INTRODUCTION
The film has become the center of collective memory in contemporary
culture (Grainge, 2018, p. 1). It demonstrates that the film comprises the
discourse and cultural values of life. Discourse and cultural value, which are
continually changing through the zeitgeist, are the motivations of the various
film corporations to adapt, remake and remodel their films. Walt Disney is
one of the most productive and controversial film corporations in the world.
In the last two years, Walt Disney has adapted its classic animations—
Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (2019) and Mulan (2020)—to a live-action
remake in which the discourse of racial inclusivity and diversity take place
(Elmogahzy, 2018, p. 6). Unfortunately, contemporary discourse and cultural
values of life are frequently perceived by film corporations purely as a
commercial advantage (Chaudhuri, 2006, p. 77).
There are numerous claims that some of the film corporations have
been more progressive. In his previous study, Amany Yehia Elmogahzy,
entitled A “Whole New World”: Race and Representation in Disney‟s Live-
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Action Remakes of Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan (2018), concluded,
using an enigmatic word, that Walt Disney‘s live-action remake, which
occupies a contemporary discourse, proved Walt Disney progressiveness.
Somehow, the argument was sounded as a ‗neo-Disney‘ period since the
1999-ies (Wasko, 2020). This is the real problem; Walt Disney‘s
progressiveness in a contemporary discourse has always been in an echo
chamber.
The author is keen to challenge the progressive claims regarding Walt
Disney's live-action remakes. There have been broad ranges of related study
neither regarding the progressive claim nor Walt Disney‘s live-action
remakes. One of them is The Quirky Princess and the Ice-olated Queen: an
Analysis of Disney's Frozen (Patel, 2015) which seeks to test progressive
claims by analyzing the transformation of several Disney princesses, notably
Anna and Elsa in the Frozen. This research shows that Disney denotes
progress only in movie genre level, but has not offered an inclusive feminist
social model. There is also Tale as Old as Time: How Remaking Classic
Fairytale Films Balances Recognizability and Social Progress (Gilbert, 2019)
which analyzes two animated classics and two live-action remakes of
Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast based on comparisons of dialogues that
appear in screens, plots, and characters. Using an ideological criticism
approach the study concluded that both live-action remakes fit in the
expectations of the modern world which indicates that the corporation has
reflected the global and national rise in feminism.
The two related studies above show differences in either methods or
findings in discussing Walt Disney's progressiveness. In this paper, the
author will try to explore one step further regarding Walt Disney's
progressiveness through Sara Mill's feminist stylistic approach, specifically
the theory of linguistic determinism. This research has been possible since
linguistic determinism gave evidence that language cannot be similar to ―a
sort of triffid: an organic growth that develops a life and will of its own‖ (Mills,
2008, p. 35). The fact that humans can intervene in the language would be
erased by such an understanding. However, language does not deserve to be
considered as a tool or vehicle for ideas except as a material entity that
shapes those ideas (Mills, 1995, p. 1). Linguistic determinism can be further
exposed through such an understanding, as it has become a controversial
issue concerning linguistic relativity (Ottenheimer & Pine, 2018, p. 48) and
many experts wrestle over its notion, including philosophers, psychologists,
and anthropologists (Ottenheimer & Pine, 2018, p. 35).
By Sapir and Whorf, linguistic determinism was put forwards.
Linguistic determinism is a linguistic theory that argues that actions and
thoughts are determined by the language or language used by a person,
according to Sapir-Whorf, as cited by Mills (1995, p. 63). Mills explained:
“The theory of linguistic determinism suggests that differences in the
structures of languages actually determine the different views
societies have of the world. Furthermore, it is suggested that the
language of a culture shapes the way its speakers see the world. It is
possible to analyse this argument as consisting of two stages. The
first stage—that people name the world differently, emphasizing
different aspects, depending on what is most relevant to their way of
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 life—is not too problematic. … one stage further, … this second stage
of the argument, our thought-systems are influenced by the language
of our community, so that our idea of „reality‟ is constrained by the
linguistic forms available to us as members of that community.”

For feminists, the presence of the theory of linguistic determinism is

significant. The existence of linguistic determinism theory has provided,
besides the scientific basis, the chance to undertake linguistic studies on the
negative stereotypes of women in the language and reveal how society
through the use of the language. As quoted by Mills (1995, p. 63),
Nilsen, Schultz, and J. Mills said that there had been many critical feminist
English lexis surveys who have argued that sexism is inherent in many of
the labels used by English speakers. Similarly, Spender points out those
feminists are also studying lexical language gaps, especially concerning
women‘s inability to use English to talk about their experiences. As sexism is
a discriminatory practice to demarcate a person with stereotypes and
prototypes, both efforts will be able to reveal how sexist society is (Mills,
1995, p. 73).
Based on the above review, this paper will try to uncover how Disney's
progressiveness in the language arena, specifically the use of language in the
films they produce. Here the author aims to show how language, particularly
gender-specific or sexist terms, is used. Then demonstrates how the use of
the language reflects Walt Disney's progressiveness.
METHOD
This paper uses qualitative methods to elaborate toward Walt Disney's
use of sexist language in Beauty and the Beast (2017). Qualitative methods
concede the author to collect, group, analyze, and draw conclusions.
According to Moeleong (2010, p. 157), the qualitative method is a research
method that produces data in the form of words from the observed subject.
The author uses purposive sampling techniques to draw the appropriate
data and achieve research objectives. According to Santosa (2017, p. 129),
purposive sampling technique is commonly used in qualitative research to
answer research questions. Purposive sampling technique serves to present
samples that are suitable for research purposes based on criteria. The
criteria used by the author are determined based on its association with
sexist language including:
1. The data are the utterances expressed by the characters and
showed in the film screen. They are analyzed if it comprises lexical
items such as a single word (e.g. run, horse, and so on), a chain of
words (e.g. little town, spooky night, and so on), and part of a word
(e.g. affixes).
2. The lexical items should denote gender-specific terms as Mills
(1995) formulates in the types of word form (e.g. feminine and
masculine word form) or usage (e.g. cooking: to label the women
daily activity, rational: to give positive stereotype of men)
3. The data are utterances expressed either in English or other
languages such as French and Italian which has feminine and
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 masculine word form. For example, the masculine form of the word
actor in Italian is attore while the feminine form is attire. The
masculine form of the word lawyer in French is avocat while the
feminine one is avocate.
4. The research data are not in the form of brace bracketed text which
usually take part in the text of films to denote non-verbal action or
visual hole such as ―[chuckles],‖ ―(grunting),‖ and other many
related forms.

Based on these categories the author selects Beauty and the Beast
(2017) since the film is in the same category as the films above. There also
has been much debate over the emergence of Disney‘s first gay character
(Deo, 2019, p. 522) named LeFou and the modern feminist heroine—a
bookish, an inventor, one who empowered other women and rigging a
horse—named Belle (Buzarna-Tihenea, 2019, p. 584). The data source for
this research is the text that appears and is spoken by the characters on the
screen of the film Beauty and the Beast (2017). Moleong (2010, p. 159) states
that the data source is the subject from which the data originates. In
addition, the data taken from the dialogue that occurs in the screen film are
lexical elements consisting of a single word, a chain of words, and a part of a
word based on a stylistic feminist approach. Since sexism is tied to language
in its history Mills, in her book Language and Sexism (2008), explains that
lexical items such as the marked form, naming, generic nouns and
pronouns, derogation terms and surnames and titles, often appear as sexist
practice in language use.
The practise of naming has become the focus of many feminists
because it is considered very significant. Spender, as cited by Mills (2008, p.
43), argues that ―names are essential for the construction of reality for without
a name it is difficult to accept the existence of an object, an event, a feeling.
Naming is the means whereby we attempt to order and structure the chaos
and flux of existence which would otherwise be an undifferentiated mass.‖
Furthermore, Cameron (Mills, 1995, p. 78) stated that ―our languages are
sexist; that is, they represent or “name” the world from a masculine viewpoint
and in accordance with stereotypical beliefs about the sexes.‖
Some terms such as ―vagina‖ ―vulva‖ ―clitoris‖ during this time there is
a gap in terminology, even considered the words ―taboo‖ and ―offensive‖. The
consequence is that no parent names their daughter by the name associated
with the term. Meanwhile, boys are often named after ―dick‖, ―cock‖, or
―prick‖. It is the same as when describing sexual activity where women are
passive subjects while men are more active. We can see it in terms of: ―leg
over‖ ―screw‖ ―penetrate‖ to describe the way men compare ―I‘m expecting‖
―I‘m pregnant‖ or ―I‘m in the family way‖.
The generic pronoun is a personal pronoun such as ―they‖ or ―one‖.
Somehow, since sexist language-use become common sense, there is also a
generic pronoun that called ―generic pronoun he‖. Mills (1995, p. 65)
exemplifies ―When an author has completed his manuscript, he can send it
to the publishers.‖ Neither ―he‖ nor ―his‖ in this sentence used not sex-
specifically, but generically. When used to refer groups of people, generic
pronoun he sometimes confusing to readers (e.g. when the student has
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completed his exam he should hand the invigilator in his paper). In this
sentence, all men are considered to be students. However, according to Mills
(2008, p. 47), when generic pronouns are present in a sentence, it will
contribute to the general invisibility of women within the language and
within society as a whole.
The use of the generic pronoun in a sentence also results in the
presence of the generic noun. In the example above, the term ―student‖ is
used as a generic term (Mills, 2008, p. 49). The term ―student‖ becomes a
sexist term, since it is used only to refer to men and to eliminate the
potential of women to be a student in the language context. The term ―man‖
is another example of sexist language-use in generic noun context. These
terms often appear in a few sentences or phrases, for example, ―to be man
enough‖, ―to be the right man for the job‖, and so on. According to Mills
(1995, p. 66), the term ―man‖ has become a sexist language since women‘s
existence positioned as the only auxiliary. There is another case that the
term ―man‖ used generically by prefixing it such as ―man-hours‖ or ―man-
power‖ or by affixing it such as ―policeman‖ ―seaman‖ ―postman‖ and so on.
Mills (2008, p. 56) bases his analysis on Schultz‘s findings, which
argue that the ‗semantic derogation of women‘ is a systematic process by
which words and phrases associated with women are negatively inflected. In
terms of history, the term associated with women or femininity will have a
pejorative meaning. These terms include ―governess,‖ ―mistress,‖ ―madam,‖
and ―dame,‖ which were originally used for women who have power in social
structures. The word ―governess‖ or ―mistress‖ reflected that women in
language often appear in ‗the marked form‘. The marked form or the female
form in the marked term is one of the sexist practices because males in the
language usually do not appear in the marked form or, simply, unmarked.
There are some affixes to name women such as ―lady‖ or ―-ette,‖ ―-enne,‖ and
―-trix.‖ For example, ―lady poet,‖ ―authoress,‖ ―lioness,‖ ―comedienne,‖
―aviatrix,‖ and so on (Mills, 1995, p. 70). These terms often reflect derogatory
and trivializing connotations, amateurism of women, and lack of
seriousness. Furthermore, these terms become pejorative, based on the male
equivalents of these terms, and have a stronger relationship of power and
prestige. It means that the term in the marked form is used to refer to a
person with lower status and often has an overlay with a sexual connotation
(Mills, 1995, p. 84).
There are also some terms that are used to insult and bring low
status, such as ―lady‖ ―mum‖ ―woman‖ ―girl‖ ―priestess‖ ―goddess‖ and so on.
Terms with derogatory effect usually appear to be: 1) lower female status, 2)
sexually connotative, 3) used to insult or trivialize, and 4) used to refer to
female status (e.g. ―skinny‖ ―bubbly‖ ―vivacious‘― ―pretty‖ ―voluptuous‖
―tomboy‖) (Mills, 1995, p. 87). Derogatory terms may also occur in
endearments (e.g., ―honey‖ ―sweety‖ ―sweetheart‖ ―sugar‖ ―cheesecake‖), in
addition to being often used by men to promote female attraction (e.g., ―doll‖
―baby‖ ―babe‖ ―chuck‖ ―chick‖ ―duck‖ ―ducky‖ ―hen‖ ―pet‖ ―flower‖ ―petal‖),
which play in unequal status or hierarchical relationship (Mills, 1995, p. 89).

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 Women‘s first names tend to appear in diminutive forms—for example,
Debbie, Nikki, Maggie, and Mandy—while male names don‘t. Or, as can be
seen from the short for the male name of ―Charlie‖ and ―Jamie‖ (Mills, 2008,
p. 61). Sometimes the name of the contest is also taken from a man‘s name,
such as Stephen:Stephanie; Christopher:Christine; Peter:Petra;
Antony:Antonia (Mills, 1995, p. 82). There are also first names that usually
use the additional ―–ette‖ which means small ones, e.g. Ginette, Suzette,
Lynette, Janette.
Surname, somehow, is a gender-based practise that is characterised
by marriage. In the British marriage tradition, when a woman takes a
surname from her husband, there is also the seizure of a husband against a
wife (Mills, 2008, p. 62). For marriage and taking the surname of the
husband, mean that the wife has become the personal property of the
husband.
The marital status of ―Mrs. and ―Miss‖ is a male-oriented view that
indicates the difference between married or unmarried women. Men,
however, have absolutely no equal distinction between married and
unmarried. Here we can see that women are marked, whereas men are not
marked in such a way (Mills, 1995, p. 81).
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
All the words that appeared on the screen-film Beauty and the Beast
(2017) live-action remake were sorted accordingly into the generic noun, the
generic pronoun, the suffix ―-man‖ the male or female terms of sexual
connotation, the male or female terms of the positive or negative
connotation, and the male and female names of the characters (surnames,
first names, diminutive terms, titles) to expose the discourse of sexism.
There are 9,769 words included in the Beauty and the Beast (2017) live-
action remake, 610 words were not included in the analysis since it stood as
brace bracketed words.
Table 1 Gender-specific Terms
Female-specific Male-specific
Beautiful Madame de Garderobe Artist Lad
Beauty Madame Gaston Beard Lead
Bravissima Mademoiselle Beast Maestro
Canvas Maidens Blade Maestro Cadenza
Cooking Mama Boy Man
Damsel Maman Boys Manly
Daughter Miss Brute Market
Diva Mom Chapeau Master
Dress Mum Charm Men
Enchantée Mother Charming Monsieur Gaston
Enchantress Mrs. Potts Father Monsieur Jean
Free Perfetta Father-in-law Monsieur LeFou
Freedom Pretty Fathers Monster
Girl Prey Fellow Monstrous
Girls Princess Frenchmen Mr. Potts
Gorgeous Proud Gentle Papa
Gown Rabbits Gently Père Robert
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 Grandmother Sheath Guy Prince
Hag Spinsters Hair Prince Charming
Haggard Whoops-a-daisy Handsome Protect
Ladies Widows Hero Tall
Lady Wife Host Dashing
Laundry Woman Hunt Debonair
Madame Chérie Hunter

How the discourse of sexism begins in the text can be seen from the
representation of the gender-specific terms used in the film. According to
Mills (2008, p. 40), gender-specific is usually used to refer to sex-specifics
which in the context of sexism, aim to describe the attractiveness and
emotional crisis characteristics of women (gorgeous, beauty, and so on). It is
also used to refer to women as a minority in public space (hag, haggard,
spinster, damsel and so on) whereas men are not referred to in the same way
and tend to have a positive meaning (gentle, gently, debonair, dashing,
charm). It also appears in the marked-form of women (enchantress, princess)
while men are unmarked (prince, host, master, lad, etc.) which tends to
make them more prestigious and powerful, while women are low status and
sexually connotative.
The other words such as ―fellow‖ ―lead‖ ―hunt‖ ―hunter‖ ―hair‖ ―market‖
―artist‖ referring to male; and ―laundry‖ ―freedom‖ ―dress‖ ―gown‖ ―cooking‖
―canvas‖ referring to female are intentionally used to refer to sex-specific
activity or experience. Sometimes these words are confusing, as they are
rarely present in a gender-specific society, but Mills (1995) considers that
some words contain ideological messages. For example, the word ―artist‖
refers only to men in the film Beauty and the Beast (2017) live-action remake
and the word ―canvas‖ which is used only to describe Belle‘s body.
Some gender-specific inecessaries terms appeared in the feminine form
(bravissima, enchantée, perfetta, and so on) and the masculine form
(maestro, chapeau, monsieur, and so on). Femininity and masculinity also
appear to be involved outside the ―form‖ when it is used to describe pacifism
and fragility of women (rabbits, sheath, prey, whoops-a-daisy) while males
are usually described as aggressive (monsters, horrid, monstrous, brute).
From gender-specific terms (see Table 1), the female-specific number of
words is 151 and the male-specific number is 193. The above findings show
that in the film Beauty and the Beast (2017) live-action remake is dominated
by the use of male-specific terms than female-specific ones (see Figure 1).

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 Female-
specific
Male- 44%
specific
56%

Figure 1 Gender-specific Terms Percentage

Furthermore, in the climax plot, the people of the fictional town of

Villeneuve are performing a mob, starting a long march to the castle of the
Beast, and shouting.
(1) ―Raise the flag, sing the song / Here we come, we‘re fifty strong /
And fifty Frenchmen can‘t be wrong / Let‘s kill the beast!‖

The sentence above containing the word ―Frenchmen‖ should be sex-

specific. But, the ―Frenchmen‖ word refers to all those who are in the long
march to the castle of the Beast. The fact is not only men in the mob
heading to the castle of the Beast but also women in it. Women‘s sex is
invisible. This argument is also relevant at a time when the mob says, ―Say it
again - who‘s a man among men?.‖
In this generic noun analysis, the author also found some equally sexist
data. Typically, as Mills (1995, p. 66) exemplifies ―to be man enough‖ it
appears in the form of phrases of a gender-specific nature. It happened to
―the right man‖ that Gaston said while seducing Belle in front of his house,
the ―man of taste‖ that Lumiere said at the time that Maurice was in the
castle for the first time, and the ―man the barricades‖ that Cogsworth had
told the servants when the mob was right in the grounds of Beast‘s castle.
Sexism in language is also apparent in the use of gender-specific
pronouns. According to Mills (1995, p. 66), certain professions in Beauty and
the Beast (2017) are often labelled stereotypically:
(2) ―There goes the baker with his tray like always‖
(3) ―Belle! Heard you had a little trouble with the headmaster. He never
liked me, either.‖

The two professions described, the baker and the headmaster, operate
stereotypically since the absence of some words before the sentence to
explain where ―the baker‖ or ―the headmaster‖ is a man. The two pronouns
in the sentence not only confuse the reader, but also push the reader to
conclude that the ―the baker‖ and ―the headmaster‖ professions are men‘s
jobs.
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 He and his in Beauty and the Beast (2017) have become pronouns to
explain the prestigious profession in society, and yet she still appears to be
derogatory in different ways. As the sentence ―then one night, an unexpected
intruder arrived at the castle, seeking shelter from the bitter storm. As a
gift, she offered the Prince a single rose.‖

Table 2 Characters: Naming, First Name, Surname, Title, and Derogatory

Terms
NO CHARACTER FIRST SUR- TITLE NEGATIVE TERMS
NAME NAME TO DESCRIBE WOMEN
1 Agathe - Enchantress
- Unexpected intruder
- Haggard - Spinsters
- Poor - Filthy hag
2 Beast Prince
Master
3 Belle Mademoiselle - Argumentative
Miss - Beautiful - Beauty
- Chère - Chérie
- Damsel - Dazed - Dear
- Dearie - Dignity
- Dreamy
- Distracted - Far off look
- Different - Fool
- Princess
- Funny girl - Future wife
- Gorgeous
- Hardly proof
- Have got no parallel
- Head‘s up on some cloud
- Headstrong - Idiots
- Lamb
- Most beautiful girl
- My love - Nighty-night
- Odd - Peculiar
- Prisoner
- Perfect canvas - Poppet
- Pretty eyes - Proud face
- Puzzle - So well-read
- Special - Strange
- Stuck in a book
- Whoops-a-daisy
4 Chip
5 Cogsworth
6 Dick
7 Gaston Monsieur
8 LeFou Monsieur - Clingy
9 Lumiere

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10 Madame de Garderobe Madame - Mama - Darling
Garderobe
11 Maestro Maestro
Cadenza
12 Maurice
13 Jean Jean Potts Mr.
Monsieur
14 Mrs. Potts Beatrice Potts Mrs. - Grandmother - Darling
- Mum
15 Robert Pere
16 Plumette - Darling - Dear
- Lightly used houseware
17 Clothilde - Dear
18 Stanley
19 Tom

The naming of characters in Beauty and the Beast (2017) live-action

remake is sexist. It appears in more serious ways. First, the author decided
to highlight two characters called LeFou and Plumette. Both characters,
LeFou and Plumette, are representations of minorities. LeFou, who is a gay
character, is rooted in modern French, which has the adjective ―mad‖ and
―insane‖ meanings (Fool | Origin and Meaning of Fool by Online Etymology
Dictionary, n.d.). At least, LeFou is a gay or, to be exact, a mentally ill gay
character. Then Plumette is a feather duster who has become one of the
representations of black women. The name Plumette essentially consists of
‗plum,‘ a type of fruit that is relatively small in size and candy flavoured, and
the suffix ‗–ette.‘ According to Mills (1995, p. 70), ‗-ette‘ is a diminutive form
of some male terms that can mean ‗less than or ‗smaller than.‘
Somehow, other names like Belle and Beatrice have an androcentric
tendency. Both names have meanings, Belle: beautiful, well-dressed woman
(Belle | Origin and Meaning of Belle by Online Etymology Dictionary, n.d.) and
Beatrice: who makes happy (Beatrice | Origin and Meaning of the Name
Beatrice by Online Etymology Dictionary, n.d.), who tends to place women as
sexual objects and sources of happiness. In contrast to Clothilde, it means:
famous in battle (Clothilde | Origin and Meaning of the Name Clothilde by
Online Etymology Dictionary, n.d.), which bears a similarity to one of the
examples given by Mills (Mills, 1995, p. 87) i.e. ‗battle-axe,‘ it tends to insult
or voicing women. Clothilde seems to be a forceful character when
Cogsworth (Cothilde‘s husband) wants to turn back to being a mantle-clock
when he finally meets Clothilde. This kind of naming is one of the
misogynous practises. The rest is Agathe, derived from the masculine form of
Agathos, which means ―the good fit, gentle, noble‖ (Agatha | Origin and
Meaning of the Name Agatha by Online Etymology Dictionary, n.d.).
The name of the man most highlighted out by the author is Dick. Dick
is an additional character in the Beauty and the Beast (2017) live-action
remake. However, this finding does not diminish the view that male
characters tend to show that the fictional world of Beauty and the Beast
(2017) live-action remake is sexist. Everyone can see every day, in every
place, in Villeneuve, that Dick was talking to his friend, having a drink at the
bar, relaxing in the corner of the market, and so on.
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 As regards title, it is important to find out where the naming of female
characters is based on their marital status, as can be seen from Table 2.
There is one contrast between the data obtained by the author concerning
the naming of Madame de Garderobe. Madame de Garderobe‘s naming
character is based on a marital status, whether married or unmarried. This
can be seen as misogyny when compared with her husband named Cadenza.
Men are not naming the way that women are, based on their marital status.
Cadenza‘s character is named Maestro Cadenza.
Besides naming, there are many terms in Beauty and the Beast (2017)
live-action remake that indicate sexism. The term is usually used to describe
women negatively (see Table 2). Men are in a positive way. According to Mills
(1995, p. 87) the terms which has derogatory connotations (see Table 3) that
are used to insult the appearance of women (e.g. ―haggard‖ and ―filthy hag‖),
to denote low status (e.g. ―enchantress‖ and ―princess‖), sexuality (e.g.
―beauty,‖ ―beautiful,‖ ―gorgeous,‖ and so on) and to patronize women (e.g.
―mum,‖ ―mom,‖ ―mama,‖ ―maman,‖ and so on) or to glorify gender
inequalities (see Table 3).
Table 3 Derogation Terms

INSULT SEXUAL AND LOW-STATUS PATRONIZING

Haggard Enchantress Chère
Funny girl Beautiful Chérie
Filthy hag Beauty Dear
Argumentative Gorgeous Dearie
Dazed Spinsters Lamb
Dignity Future wife My love
Dreamy far off look Most beautiful girl Poppet
Distracted Perfect canvas Mama
Different Pretty eyes Darling
Fool Proud face Grandmother
Hardly proof Whoops-a-daisy Mum
Head‘s up on some cloud Princess Mom
Headstrong Damsel Maman
Idiots
Odd
Peculiar
Puzzle
So well-read
Strange
Stuck in a book

Table 3 has shown how to use the language in the film to portray female
characters. In addition to some of the findings mentioned above, there is also
some term in the form of cultural demands where some characters in the
film try to bring women, especially Belle, into the domestic area. This lies at
the beginning of the plot where Belle is on her way to return the book she
borrowed to Pere Robert in the morning while another woman is seen
shopping at the market and washing clothes. People from the fictional town
of Villeneuve say that Belle is a woman who is ―distracted,‖ ―dazed,‖ ―dreamy
far off look,‖ ―different,‖ ―funny girl,‖ ―fool,‖ ―peculiar,‖ ―odd,‖ ―stuck in a
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book,‖ and so on. Somehow, the terms were used to insult Belle as she was
eventually annoyed and asked her father ―Papa, do you think I'm odd?‖ and
confessed while chatting with the Beast ―The villagers say that I'm a funny
girl / but I'm not sure they mean it / as a compliment.‖
The cultural demands performed in the film toward women to put them
into the domestic area became clearer when Gaston called Agate a
―spinster.‖ Mills (1995, p. 88) explains that ―spinster,‖ literally someone who
uses a spinning wheel, is a word that refers to the role of a woman in a
household. Then, when LeFou sent Gaston the message ―A certain damsel is
in distress‖ it reflected that women still had to be rescued by heroes. In
addition, this term also has sexual connotations. Any of the terms that were
initially used to put women in the domestic arena would inevitably have
sexual connotations (Mills, 1995, p. 88) such as ―future wife,‖ ―enchantress,‖
and ―princess.‖
In addition, sexism is often found to be based on endearment in some
terms. Referring to Mills (1995, p. 89) endearment term is difficult to
describe. But, women are perceived to be the same as cute little animals or
something sweet, tasty to eat, and often used only by men to refer to women
rather than men, or to demonstrate hierarchical relationships. These words
include ―Chère,‖ ―Chérie,‖ ―Dear,‖ ―Dearie,‖ ―Lamb,‖ ―My love,‖ ―Poppet,‖ and
so on.
There are two other terms that the author highlights since they are
quite difficult to interpret. However, both have similar functions to the above
findings. The term is ―dignity‖ which has a double entendre. The term comes
at a time when Gaston failed to woo Belle after feeling he was helping her out
of trouble. ―That's what makes Belle so appealing. / She hasn't made a fool of
herself/ just to gain my favour. What would you call that? / Dignity?.‖ The
rest is ―whoops-a-daisy‖ which Lumire says to refer to Belle. The word
―daisy‖ in those terms is a flower. Flowers are an established metaphor for
describing the fragility of women.
CONCLUSION
Mills‘ feminist stylistic framework has helped explore how sexism exists
in language. This study has shown the difference between women and men
in Beauty and the Beast (2017) live-action remake by analysing the use of
sexist language. This study has uncovered the sexism practise that exists in
the lexical item that used in the Walt Disney‘s live-action remake of Beauty
and the Beast (2017). A simple calculation of female and male specific term
denote men characters have the most repetitive number of words yet women
character have the high number of word to describe them. Gender-specific
terms linked to women tend to mean sexually negative words while men tend
to be positive and prestigious in meaning. Female and gay characters tend to
be trivialised, even sexually inflicted, in the same way. Various sexist terms
often portray and denote female and gay characters. The live-action remake
of Beauty and the Beast (2017) is a male sexual interest film in which women
are portrayed differently between the sexually attractive and the less
attractive. Walt Disney is not progressive at all since gay characters defined
as mentally ill, black woman naming denote derogatory and trivializing
connotation, female characters are herded to occupy domestic areas.

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