Patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term patriarchy is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in feminist theory to describe a broader social structure in which men as a group dominate society.
Terminology
Patriarchy literally means "the rule of the father" and comes from the Greek πατριάρχης (patriarkhēs), "father or chief of a race", which is a compound) of πατριά (patria), "lineage, descent, family, fatherland" (from πατήρ patēr, "father") and ἀρχή (arkhē), "domination, authority, sovereignty".
Terminology
Historically, the term patriarchy has been used to refer to autocratic rule by the male head of a family; however, since the late 20th century it has also been used to refer to social systems in which power is primarily held by adult men. The term was particularly used by writers associated with second-wave feminism such as Kate Millett; these writers sought to use an understanding of patriarchal social relations to liberate women from male domination. This concept of patriarchy was developed to explain male dominance as a social, rather than biological, phenomenon.
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