> By the way - a good first step if we want to dig out of this mire of political corectness would be to reclaim all of the terms used to mean "misogynist" that don't - words like "chauvanist." "Chauvanism" is the belief that whatever one's country does is the best way. "Misogynism" is a belief that males are superior to females, or a hatred of females.

Every dictionary I've checked for the definition of "chauvinism" (that makes the third spelling of the word in this thread alone) has "fanatical patriotism" as definition #1 but "prejudiced belief in the superiority of one's own group" as definition #2 without any qualifications. One dictionary I checked said just that; another mentioned "race or gender" as being the two types of "groups" the word is most commonly used to refer to. You're more of a word purist than I am, Darien. But in this case I can't even find the *controversy*, much less authoritative analyses of the issue.

In any case, I do believe that, for clarity and adherence to common usage, "male chauvinism" should be used to refer to prejudice against females, while "chauvinism" should be reserved for the word's broader definitions.

And regardless of whether you or I are right about what the word means, it most certainly does not mean "misogyny," a much stronger term. Prejudice and hatred, though they are often found together, mean distinctly different things.