Gender Jingoism

   Jingoism is defined as an attitude of extreme, belligerent patriotism, and is similar to the word chauvinism, which began in France and was named after Nicolas Chauvin, a Napoleonic veteran famous for his dislike of all things non-French.
   More recently, those who focused on what they perceived as the innate superiority of men became known as male chauvinists.
   These days, there remains a tendency to refer to women by their first names and to men by their last names.
   One wonders why that is.

   Is it because women are more friendly and outgoing than men, and less concerned with status?
   Or is it because women feel the need to preserve some privacy, making it more difficult for men to find them?
   Or is it that some men feel superior, and use whatever tactics they can to reinforce that?
   In turn, of course, the last two reasons indicate something about men and their need to control others, which is also a reason why men are more likely to participate in extremely competitive sports. And politics, too, for that matter.
   Times are changing, however, as more women take part in sports and politics. That could also explain the antipathy many men in politics feel toward women who dare to challenge them.
   
   For a long time, women were relegated to secondary status, and in some societies throughout the world still are. Even in America, there is a pattern of referring to women by their first names and to men by the more formal use of titles and their family names.
   One hears this often on political debate stages and, unfortunately, on news programs. A particularly notable example was during the presidential debates in 2016, when the Republican candidate was referred to as Mr. Trump, and the Democratic candidate only by her first name, Hillary, and not by the comparable term Mrs. Clinton.
   And currently, a critic of the Oval Office is referred to only by her first name, Omarosa, and not by her full name -- Omarosa Manigault Newman.
   Thee was a time in America when newspapers would refer to white men with an honorific title such as "Mister Jones," but members of minority groups by their first names only.
   Those days are gone. But in an era of equal rights and responsibilities, perhaps it's time this change accelerated.