Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,905,693,684 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Chauvinism
(redirected from male chauvinism)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Legal, Financial, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
chauvinism (shō`vənĭzəm), word derived from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, a soldier of the First French Empire. Used first for a passionate admiration of Napoleon, it now expresses exaggerated and aggressive nationalism. As a social phenomenon, chauvinism is essentially modern, becoming marked in the era of acute national rivalries and imperialism beginning in the 19th cent. It has been encouraged by mass communication, originally by the cheap newspaper. Chauvinism exalts consciousness of nationality, spreads hatred of minorities and other nations, and is associated with militarism, imperialism, and racism. In the 1960s, the term "male chauvinist" appeared in the women's liberation movement; it is applied to males who refuse to regard females as equals.
Chauvinism
See also Bigotry, Patriotism.
Chauvin, Nicolas
soldier who passionately admired Napoleon; whence, ultranationalism. [Fr. Hist.: NCE, 518]
Helmer, Torvald
treats wife Nora as an inferior being. [Nor. Lit.: A Doll’s House]
Jingo
legendary second-century empress of Japan, victorious invader of Korea and hence the conjectural eponym of jingoism. [Jap. Hist.: EB (1963) XIII, 69]
Jingoes
nickname of 19th-century English pro-war party. [Br. Hist.: EB (1963) XIII, 69]
male chauvinist pig
denigrating designation for a man who treats women as inferiors. [Am. Pop. Culture: Misc.]

Chauvinism 

an extreme form of nationalism, involving the advocacy of national exclusivity. Chauvinists place the interests of their own nation above the interests of all others, promote national arrogance, and exacerbate national hatreds and animosities.

The term “chauvinism” first appeared in France. It derives from the name of an aggressive and bellicose recruit in the comedy The Tricolor Cockade (1831), by the brothers J.-H. and C.-T. Cogniard. The recruit, Nicolas Chauvin, was apparently based on a real Nicolas Chauvin, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars who was known for his worship of Napoleon and his belief that the emperor had made France great.

The word “chauvinism” was eventually applied to many types of exaggerated nationalism. “Jingoism” came into use in Great Britain in the 1870’s as a synonym. Terms such as “social chauvinism” and “great power chauvinism” have been devised to identify particular types of chauvinism.

Chauvinism flourishes in imperialist countries. Its most extreme manifestation is the antihuman ideology and policies of fascist states. The struggle against chauvinist ideologies and their proponents has always been one of the most important tasks confronting Marxist-Leninist parties.

REFERENCES

Lenin, V. I. “Rabochii klass i natsional’nyi vopros.” Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 23.
Lenin, V. I. “Kriticheskie zametki po natsional’nomu voprosu.” Ibid., vol. 24.
Lenin, V. I. “O bor’be s sotsial-shovinizmom.” Ibid. , vol.
26. Lenin, V. I. “Prikrytie sotsial-shovinistskoi politiki internatsionalisticheskimi frazami.” Ibid., vol. 27.
Marksizm-Leninizm o proletarskom internatsionalizme. Moscow, 1969.
Leninizm i natsional’nyi vopros v sovremennykh usloviiakh, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1974.


Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Mentioned in?  References in periodicals archive?   Encyclopedia browser?   Full browser?
No references found
 
It appears male chauvinism has won the day in this region while women in other parts of the UK who have been campaigning for equal rights for scores of years can now, at the discretion of their respective committees, put their names forward for club positions.
Need less to say, marriage was an unrestrained site of male chauvinism .
Byline: Valerie Hill AFTER being told by researchers that women can't do science, the long march of male chauvinism has returned with a vengeance.
 
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.