A male chauvinist, am I?

"Chauvinism is a French word, and it goes back to the early 1800's. It had NOTHING to do with men feeling superior over women."

Back in the day, being called a male chauvinist was meant to be a pejorative. I mean, if the other side called you that name, they did you dirt. Threw some shade on you. But in reality, I am a male chauvinist. By the way, that does NOT mean you are a sexist. That is how misunderstood and misused that term has become over the ages. I know I am a male, and I checked that again the last time I went to the bathroom. On that, I am old school. Male plumbing = being a male. But a chauvinist. What the heck is that?

Basically, a patriot. If you love your country and love showing that love, you could quality for being a chauvinist. But somehow, somewhere along this path, chauvinism got conflated with sexism. In fact, a very popular term of disrespect from days gone by, was to call someone a "Male Chauvinist Pig". That meant, in that day's urban dictionary, a "Male Chauvinist Pig" was one who thought males were much superior to females, and therefore, males should control them. Huh?  

Anyhow, back to the real definition of being chauvinistic. Chauvinism is a French word, and it goes back to the early 1800's. It had NOTHING to do with men feeling superior over women. Nada. Nothing. It did have to do however, with the belief that the nation or group you belonged to, was superior over another opposing group. The term could be rational or irrational in its use. 

For example, the Vikings are a better football team than the Packers because the Viking players are stronger and more moral. That is a chauvinistic statement, which for this season, is irrational. South Dakota is a better state, as it has more freedoms than Minnesota. That could be a chauvinistic, yet a rational statement. But - neither statement had anything to do with sexism.

Many times chauvinism means to be "showing(ly) or excessively patriotic". If I had five Trump flags and 20 Trump lawn signs, that could be considered to be excessively patriotic by some. I on the other hand, would consider that just to be a good start. In any event, excessively patriotic should be tied closer to nationalism or even jingoism, than sexism. But it is not. In fact, for the evolving definition of chauvinism, it is the tail wagging the dog. So many people in the 1960's (and forward) have misused this word to mean sexism, Webster's changed their definition of chauvinism. Today, if you are a chauvinist, you are showing(ly) sexist, instead of excessively patriotic. 

Me? I reject the new definition of that fine, age old French term. If someone calls me a chauvinist, I will look at that as a compliment instead of an insult. Why do I say that? When it comes to being a true patriot, I don't see any ceiling to that term. It is all up side. Globalism on the other hand, is all down side. If someone wanted to insult me, calling me a globalist would do the trick.