Patriarchy
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Patriarchy describes the structuring of society on the basis of family units, in which fathers have primary responsibility and rulership for the welfare of these units. In some cultures slaves were included as part of such households. The concept of patriarchy is often used, by extension, to refer to the expectation that men take primary responsibility for the welfare of the community as a whole, acting as representatives via public office (in anthropology and feminism, for example).
Western civilization is predominately patriarchal, and has only recently gravitated towards a more egalitarian form under the influence of the Women's rights movement. The major non-Western civilizations in the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia remain pronouncedly patriarchal.
The feminine form of patriarchy is matriarchy, but there are no known examples of matriarchies from any point in history.
See also
- Anti-feminism
- Chinese patriarchy
- Domitius
- Gender role
- Homemaker
- Masculinity
- Nature versus nurture
- Patriarch magazines
- Patriarchs (Bible)
- Sociology of fatherhood
