patriarchy

3 definitions • 2 examples

a society in which the oldest male is the leader of the family, or a society controlled by men in which they use their power to their own advantage:

Patriarchy has not disappeared - it has merely changed form.

She rails against patriarchy and hierarchy.

a form of social organization in which fathers or other males control the family, clan, tribe, or larger social unit, or a society organized in this way

Patriarchy is also the control by men, rather than women or both men and women, of most of the power and authority in a society.