The term entered public use due to a satirical treatment of Chauvin in the [French play]? La Cocarde Tricolore (The Three-colored Cockade?).
The origin of the term and early usage indicate that it was coined as a term for excessive nationalism or patriotism. Today it is most often used to reference racism or sexism.
In "[Imperialism, Nationalism, Chauvinism]?", [The Review of Politics]?, p. 457, [Hannah Arendt]? describes the concept:
A strict definition of the word does not require a judgement that the chauvinist is right or wrong in his opinion, only that he is blind and unreasoning in coming to it, ignoring any facts which might temper his fervor. In modern use, however, it is almost exclusively used pejoratively to imply that the chauvinist is both unreasoning and wrong.
In the United States, chauvinism as a social problem was brought to the forefront of national politics by the feminist movement. The prototypical "male chauvinist" is the character of Archie Bunker in the hit television comedy [All in the Family]? which explored the issue as a recurring theme.