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Dhanisa Kamila M. Huda, Korea University, South KoreaAbstract
This paper investigates how metaphor functions as a strategy of impoliteness in the online sexist portrayal of women in Indonesian social media. Drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) and theories of impoliteness, the study analyses metaphorical language used to convey offense, dehumanisation, and gendered power relations in computer-mediated communication. The dataset comprises 48 metaphorical excerpts collected from Instagram and X (Twitter), selected through two of the most followed Indonesian feminist-curated accounts and keyword-based searches targeting gendered discourse. Employing a qualitative approach, metaphors were identified and analysed through a two-phase procedure of metaphor hypothesizing and metaphor analysis. The analysis reveals four dominant conceptual metaphors used to target women online: WOMAN IS ANIMAL, WOMAN IS COMMODITY, WOMAN IS (SEXUAL) OBJECT, and WOMAN IS DOWN AND MAN IS UP. In addition, a smaller number of instances instantiate the metaphor WOMAN IS IMPURE, which further contributes to moral degradation and exclusion. The findings demonstrate that metaphor enables speakers to perform highly aggressive face-threatening acts while exploiting indirectness, cultural associations, and evaluative entailments. These metaphorical constructions both reflect and reinforce patriarchal norms and gender hierarchies in Indonesian society. It is prominent that metaphors being used specifically to cause offence to have not been receiving much attention, especially in the realm of cyber-sexism. By foregrounding metaphor as a central mechanism of cyber-sexism, this study contributes to research on metaphor, impoliteness, and online gender-based abuse and highlights the need for further investigation into figurative strategies of offense in digital discourse.
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Conference: ACAH2026Stream: Arts - Media Arts Practices: Television
This paper is part of the ACAH2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Huda D. (2026) Metaphors in Impolite Portrayal of Women Online: The Case of Indonesia’s Cyber-Sexism ISSN: 2186-229X – The Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities 2026 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 261-273) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-229X.2026.22
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-229X.2026.22
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