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Chauvinism ( ) is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes it as a form of "excessive and unreasonable" patriotism and nationalism, a fervent faith in national excellence and glory.
In American English, the word, since 1940s, has also come to be used in as a shorthand for male chauvinism, a trend reflected in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, which, as of 2018, began its first example of use of the term chauvinism with "an attitude of superiority toward members of the opposite sex".
Chauvinism has extended from its original use to include fanatical devotion and undue partiality to any group or cause to which one belongs, especially when such partisanship includes prejudice against or hostility toward outsiders or rival groups and persists even in the face of overwhelming opposition. This French quality finds its parallel in the English-language term jingoism, which has retained the meaning of chauvinism strictly in its original sense; that is, an attitude of belligerent nationalism.
In 1945, political theorist Hannah Arendt described the concept thus:
In this sense, chauvinism is irrational, in that no one can claim their nation or ethnic group to be inherently superior to another.
A historical example of chauvinism from the century following Chauvin was the German-Jewish poet Ernst Lissauer, whose extreme nationalism after the outbreak of World War 1 included writing the "Hymn of Hate against England" ("Haßgesang gegen England") in 1915. As David Aberbach remarks, "There is nothing in modern Hebrew literature, however devoted to the cause of Jewish sovereignty, remotely comparable to the super-chauvinistic Hassgesang ('Hate Song for England')..."
Despite chauvinism's irrational roots, at the time, it was explicitly seen as almost obligatory for any German patriot. As Walther Rathenau commented just prior to the outbreak of the war, "Whoever loves his Fatherland may and should be something of a chauvinist." Lissauer's poem was exceedingly popular, to the extent that it was praised by the Kaiser himself, and Lissauer's slogan "Gott strafe England!" was used as a daily greeting. However, whilst some did take the opportunity of the war to demonstrate their patriotism, Lissauer was an extremist, and in contrast many other German Jews disagreed with Lissauer and the way that mainstream opinion had shifted.
The Christianity-centric imagery used to document the Kriegserlebnis by authors such as Walter Flex alienated Jewish soldiers. Whereas Lissauer attempted to sign up as a soldier (but was rejected as unfit) as soon as war broke out, then penned the poem, and in the words of Stefan Zweig considered everything published by the German newspapers and army to be "gospel truth" and Edward Grey to be "the worst criminal". The last lines of the poem read:
We love as one, we hate as one, We have one foe and one alone — ENGLAND!
The second coming of the male chauvinist term in 1969 is associated with the women's liberation movement. This time it became widespread (130 articles in NYT used the term in 1972 alone). "Male chauvinist pig" quickly followed in 1970 and, useful for teasing and impossible for the target to interpret is as a joke, it turned out easier for activists to adopt, becoming a vogue word or even an early meme (the rate of its spread can be compared to that of "groovy").
By the early 1990s 63% of Chicago women acknowledged calling someone a "male chauvinist pig". 58% of the women who did not self-identify as feminists, and did 56% of conservatives among them, 60% of non-voters, and 51% of African Americans. For comparison, much fewer women at the time used the word "sexist". The phrase was spreading through both everyday talk and the mass media.
Lloyd and Michael Korda have argued that as they integrated back into the workforce, men returned to predominate, holding positions of power while women worked as their secretaries, usually typing dictations and answering telephone calls. This division of labor was understood and expected, and women typically felt unable to challenge their position or male superiors, argue Korda and Lloyd.Michael Korda, Male Chauvinism! How It Works. New York: Random House, 1973. Print.
An often cited study done in 1976 by Sherwyn Woods, "Some Dynamics of Male Chauvinism", attempts to find the underlying causes of male chauvinism. Adam Jukes argues that a reason for male chauvinism is masculinity itself:
For the vast majority of people all over the world, the mother is a primary carer...There's an asymmetry in the development of boys and girls. Infant boys have to learn how to be masculine. Girls don't. Masculinity is not in a state of crisis. Masculinity is a crisis. I don't believe misogyny is innate, but I believe it's inescapable because of the development of masculinity.
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