From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Wed May 22 2002 - 02:53:09 MDT
Olga Bourlin wrote:
> From: "Damien Broderick" <d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au>
>
>>At 08:05 PM 5/21/02 -0700, Olga wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I never use "chauvinist" to mean sexist,
>>>because wouldn't the "sexist" designation then have to include
>>>discrimination against women OR men, and so wouldn't that make the term
>>>"chauvinist" utterly useless? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
>>>
>>You're wrong, because `chauvinist' is the abbreviation of a 1960s' women's
>>lib coinage, `male chauvinist'--i.e., a male who acts in respect of his
>>imagined pre-eminence *qua male* as Nicolas Chauvin, the proverbial
>>hyper-patriot, acted in respect of France.
>>
Main Entry: chau·vin·ism
Pronunciation:
'shO-v&-"ni-z&m
Function:
noun
Etymology:
French chauvinisme, from Nicolas Chauvin, character noted for
his excessive patriotism and devotion to Napoleon in Théodore
and Hippolyte Cogniard's play La Cocarde tricolore (1831)
Date:
1851
1 : excessive or blind patriotism -- compare JINGOISM
2 : undue partiality or attachment to a group or place to which
one belongs or has belonged
3 : an attitude of superiority toward members of the opposite
sex; also : behavior expressive of such an attitude
Obviously the word predates the term 'male chauvinist' and
according to the dictionary is much more general and includes
both sexes in its third and relevant meaning.
- samantha
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:14:16 MST