Can anyone help me with a definition of the word patriarchy?

Answer 1

Patriarchy is a form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male line

Answer 2

A society lead by men, or males only. (Utterly hopeless)

History shows us that most great "Patriarchy's" have in fact been lead by men... Under the watchfull eye of a woman.

It's true and you know it !

Answer 3

social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line; broadly : control by men of a disproportionately large share of power

Answer 4

pa·tri·arch·y /ˈpeɪtriˌɑrki/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pey-tree-ahr-kee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -ies. 1. a form of social organization in which the father is the supreme authority in the family, clan, or tribe and descent is reckoned in the male line, with the children belonging to the father's clan or tribe.
2. a society, community, or country based on this social organization.



Patriarchy (from Greek: patér, genitive form patris, which shows the root form patr- meaning father; and arché meaning old, beginning or, metaphorically, rule) is a word used to describe the cultural expectation that fathers have primary responsibility for the welfare of families (in ancient cultures, this included management of household slaves). The word is often used, by extension, to refer to societies where men are also expected to take primary responsibility for the welfare of the community as a whole, and hence take on the duties of public office. The adjective is patriarchal and patriarchalism refers to the practice or defence of patriarchy.

Patron is a related word used generically (i.e. it is not gender/sex specific). Women and men who provide financial support to activities within a community can be termed patrons. The verb form patronize can be used positively, to describe the activity of patrons, or negatively, to describe adopting a superior attitude.

Most forms of feminism have challenged patriarchy as a social system that is adopted uncritically, due to millennia of human experience where male physical strength was the ultimate way of settling social conflicts -- from war to disciplining children.

In early times, the great majority of the male sex were slaves, as well as the whole of the female. And many ages elapsed ... before any thinker was bold enough to question the rightfulness, and the absolute necessity, either of the one slavery or of the other.

Mill, John Stuart (1869). The Subjection of Women. London: Longmans.

During the democratic and anti-slavery movements of early 19th century Europe and America, kingdoms became constitutional monarchies or republics and slavery was made illegal (see abolitionism). The civil rights movements of 20th century America also sought to overthrow various existing social structures, that were seen by many to be oppressive and corrupt. Both social contexts led naturally to an analogous scrutiny of relationships between women and men (see Stuart Mill above). The 19th century debate ultimately resulted in women receiving the vote; this is sometimes referred to as first-wave feminism. The late 20th century debate has produced far ranging social restructuring in Western democracies -- second-wave feminism. Some consider the "second wave" to be continuing into the 21st century, others consider it to be complete, still others consider there to be a "third wave" of feminism active in contemporary society.

The opposite of feminism is not masculism but probably something rather like patriarchy. It is not surprising, therefore, that the word patriarchy has a range of additional, negative associations when used in the context of feminist theory, where it is often capitalized and used with the definite article (the Patriarchy), likely best understood as a form of collective personification (compare "blame it on the Government"/"blame it on the Patriarchy"). The use of the word patriarchy in feminist literature has been arguably overused as a rhetorical device (see Cathy Young below, also see misandry), becoming so loaded with emotive associations, that some writers prefer to use an approximate synonym, the more objective and technical androcentric (also from Greek: anér, genitive andros, meaning man).

The term patriarchy is distinct from patrilineality and patrilocality. Patrilineal defines societies where the derivation of inheritance (financial or otherwise) originates from the father's line. A society with matrilineal traits such as contemporary Judaism, for example, provides that in order to be considered a Jew, a person must be born of a Jewish mother. However, biblical Judaism is a classical example of a patriarchal society. Patrilocal defines a locus of control coming from the father's geographic/cultural community. In a matrilineal/matrilocal society, a woman will live with her mother and her sisters and brothers, even after marriage. Her brothers act as social fathers and will hold a higher influence on the women's offspring than the children's biological father. Most societies in the world today are patrilineal and patrilocal, but not all (see: matriarchy).


Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a composition of πατήρ (pater) meaning father and ἄρχων (archon) meaning leader, chief, ruler, king, etc.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are referred to as the three patriarchs of the people of Israel, and the period in which they lived is called the Patriarchal Age.

The word has mainly taken on specific ecclesiastical meanings. In particular, the highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above Major Archbishop and primate), and the Assyrian Church of the East are called patriarchs. The office and ecclesiastical conscription (comprising one or more provinces, though outside his own (arch) diocese he is often without enforceable jurisdiction, unlike the Pope of Rome) of such a patriarch is called a patriarchate. Historically, a Patriarch may often be the logical choice to act as Ethnarch, representing the community that is identified with his religious confession within a state or empire of a different creed (as Christians within the Ottoman Empire).

According to Mormonism, a patriarch is one who has been ordained to the office of Patriarch in the Melchizedek Priesthood. The term is considered synonymous with the term evangelist. One of the patriarch's primary responsibilities is to give Patriarchal blessings, as Jacob did to his twelve sons in the Old Testament. In the main branch of Mormonism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Patriarchs are typically assigned in each stake and hold the title for life.

Patriarchs are also an eccelestial rank in a series of books by David Eddings, The Elenium and The Tamuli.

Answer 5

opposite (in one way) of a matriarch

Answer 6

Just Google it. Damn.