PATRIARCHY

[noun] - (an example of a) society in which the oldest male is the leader of the family or, more generally, (an example of a) society controlled by men in which men use their power to their own advantageTheir society always was and remains to this day a patriarchy. [C]Patriarchy has not disappeared - it has merely changed form. [U]She rails against patriarchy and hierarchy. [U]Compare matriarchy at matriarch.