Matriarchy

Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of power and privilege are primarily 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 respect.

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.

Definitions

The common definition of matriarchy is rule by women who hold a monopoly or near monopoly on power and dominate society. Historian Helen Diner describes matriarchies as "women monopolizing government." She described matriarchal Amazons as "an extreme, feminist wing" of humanity and that North African women "ruled the country politically" before being overthrown by forms of patriarchy and, according to Margot Adler, Diner "envision[ed] a dominance matriarchy." Other similar definitions focus on mothers, rather than women, governing and dominating society. Etymologically, the word matriarchy is from Latin māter (genitive mātris), "mother" and Greek ἄρχειν arkhein, "to rule".

According to Heide Göttner-Abendroth, the reluctance to accept the existence of matriarchies is based on a biased understanding of matriarchy informed by living within a patriarchal society.