Editing Matriarchy (section)

{{Short description|Social system with female rule}}
{{redirect|Matriarch|other uses|Matriarch (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2012}}
{{Political anthropology|expanded=Basic concepts|Gender Studies=}}

'''Matriarchy''' is a [[social system]] in which positions of [[Power (social and political)|power]] and [[Social privilege|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.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" />

Matriarchies may also be confused with [[matrilineality|matrilineal]], [[matrilocal residence|matrilocal]], and [[matrifocal family|matrifocal]] societies.<ref>''Women at the Center: Life in a Modern Matriarchy'', [[Cornell University Press]], 2002.</ref> 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, but unlike the [[Patriarchy|patriarchal]], a complete exclusion of men in authority has not been recorded in history.