okay, I *think I see where you're coming from now. By saying that it was a male concept to begin with, you would claim that saying "male" chauvinist is redundant. But the problem with that is that the modifier speaks to "what" it is you are being "overly patriotic" to, and not about what sex you are! Thus, a male-chauvinist is overly dedicated to the male cause, a female-chauvinist to the female cause and a carbon-chauvinist to the carbon-based lifeform cause.
Does this help?

for those following along at home, here's the MWCD definition, which shows the sense progression (and recall that it took 100 years to arrive at sense 3)

chau*vin*ism (noun)

[French chauvinisme, from Nicolas Chauvin, character noted for his excessive patriotism and devotion to Napoleon in Theodore and Hippolyte Cogniard's play La Cocarde tricolore (1831)]

First appeared 1870

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

-- chau*vin*ist (noun or adjective)

-- chau*vin*is*tic (adjective)

-- chau*vin*is*ti*cal*ly (adverb)