patriarchy
/ˈpeɪtrɪɑːki
/noun (plural patriarchies) [mass noun]
1A system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is reckoned through the male line: the thematic relationships of the ballad are worked out according to the conventional archetypes of the patriarchy...
- Overall male gain depends on the constant renewal of structures of male solidarity and patriarchy over-riding immediate economic or class interests.
- Feminists now challenge patriarchy by tracing their descent through the female rather than the male line.
- The movie now takes on a starkly different aesthetic as it turns its focus to blood feuds, family honour, and tyrannical patriarchy.
1.1A system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it: the dominant ideology of patriarchy...
- These apply to the political and personal meanings that associate power with the nature of men and the culture of patriarchy.
- Gender seemed to be on the forefront of the discourse, largely because the organizers prominently recognized patriarchy as a main and integral force of oppression.
- No longer considered sexually scandalous, its analyses of patriarchy and its proposed antidotes to women's domination are still debated.
1.2 [count noun] A society or community organized on patriarchal lines: we live in a patriarchy...
- Additionally, we must analyze collusion between foreign and indigenous patriarchies under imperialism in exacerbating women's oppression.
- Is it that these two patriarchies are uniting against a perceived common threat, free and independent women?
- Many feminists argue that in patriarchies men maintain their power through violence and force.
Derivatives
patriarchism
Origin
Mid 17th century: via medieval Latin from Greek patriarkhia, from patriarkhēs 'ruling father' (see patriarch).