matriarchy
Sign in to saveMatriarchy is a social system in which positions of power and privilege are held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. While those definitions apply in general English, definitions specific to anthropology and feminism differ in some respects.
AI overview
Matriarchy is a social system where women hold the main positions of power, authority, and control over resources like property. It matters because understanding how power is distributed differently across societies—whether by gender or other factors—helps us examine how social systems work and how they affect people's lives.
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44 sectionsContents
- Definitions, connotations, and etymology
- Related concepts
- Words beginning with ''gyn-''
- Intergenerational relationships
- Words beginning with ''matri-''
- History and distribution
- By region and culture
- Ancient Near East
- Europe
- Asia
- Burma
- China
- India
- Indonesia
- Ancient Vietnam (before 43 CE)
- Native Americans
- By chronology
- Earliest prehistory and undated
- Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages
- Bronze Age
- Iron Age to Middle Ages
- 20th–21st centuries
- Mythology
- Amazons
- Greece
- Celtic myth and society
- Basque myth and society
- South America
- In feminist thought
- In religious thought
- Exclusionary
- Inclusionary
- In popular culture
- Ancient theatre
- Literature
- Film
- Television
- Other animals
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of power and privilege are held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. While those definitions apply in general English, definitions specific to anthropology and feminism differ in some respects.
Matriarchies may also be confused with matrilineal, matrilocal, and matrifocal societies. While some may consider any non-patriarchal system to be matriarchal, most academics exclude those systems from matriarchies as strictly defined. Many societies have had matriarchal elements.