Editing Matriarchy (section)

== Related concepts ==
In their works, [[Johann Jakob Bachofen]] and [[Lewis H. Morgan|Lewis Morgan]]<!-- In subsequent references to this Morgan, include the given name, Lewis, to avoid a confusion with Robin. --> used such terms and expressions as ''mother-right'', ''female rule'', ''gyneocracy'', and ''female authority''. All these terms meant the same: the rule by women (mother or wife).{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}} Although Bachofen and Lewis Morgan confined the "mother-right" inside households, it was the basis of female influence upon the whole society.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Banerjee |first=Roopleena |title='Matriarchy' and Contemporary Khasi Society |date=2015 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156662 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=76 |pages=918–930 |jstor=44156662 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The authors of the classics did not think that ''gyneocracy'' meant 'female government' in politics.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}} They were aware of the fact that the sexual structure of government had no relation to domestic rule and to roles of both sexes.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}}

=== Words beginning with  ''gyn-'' ===
{{Redirect|Gynecocracy|the novel|Gynecocracy (novel)}}
A matriarchy is also sometimes called a ''[[matrifocal family|gynarchy]]'', a ''gynocracy'', a ''gynecocracy'', or a ''[[gynocentric]]'' society, although these terms do not definitionally emphasize motherhood. [[Cultural anthropology|Cultural anthropologist]] Jules de Leeuwe argued that some societies were "mainly ''gynecocratic''"<ref name="Jules de Leeuwe">Leeuwe, Jules de, untitled comment (November 18, 1977) (emphases so in original), as a response to and with [[Eleanor Leacock|Leacock, Eleanor]], ''Women's Status in Egalitarian Society: Implications for Social Evolution'', in ''Current Anthropology'', vol.&nbsp;33, no.&nbsp;1, supp. ''Inquiry and Debate in the Human Sciences: Contributions from Current Anthropology, 1960–1990'' (February, 1992 ({{ISSN|0011-3204}} & E-ISSN 1537-5382)), p.&nbsp;241.</ref> (others being "mainly ''androcratic''").<ref name="Jules de Leeuwe" />{{Efn|[[Androcracy]], form of government ruled by men, especially fathers}}

Gynecocracy, gynaecocracy, gynocracy, gyneocracy, and gynarchy generally mean 'government by women over women and men'.<ref>{{harvp|OED|1993|loc=entries ''gynaecocracy'', ''gynocracy'', ''gynarchy'' & ''gyneocracy''}}</ref><ref name="W3-3defs">''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged'' (G. & C. Merriam (Merriam-Webster), 1966), entries ''gynecocracy'', ''gynocracy'', & ''gynarchy''.</ref><ref name="AmHeritageDict3ed-3defs">''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 3d ed. 1992 ({{ISBN|0-395-44895-6}})), entries ''gynecocracy'', ''gynocracy'', & ''gynarchy''.</ref><ref name="RHsWebUnDict2ed-2defs">''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary'' (N.Y.: Random House, 2d ed. 2001 ({{ISBN|0-375-42566-7}})), entries ''gynecocracy'' & ''gynarchy''.</ref> All of these words are synonyms in their most important definitions, and while these words all share that principal meaning, they differ a little in their additional meanings, so that ''gynecocracy'' also means 'women's social supremacy',<ref name="W3-gynecocracy">''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged'' (G. & C. Merriam (Merriam-Webster), 1966), entry ''gynecocracy''.</ref> ''gynaecocracy'' also means 'government by one woman', 'female dominance', and, derogatorily, 'petticoat government',<ref>{{harvp|OED|1993|loc=''gynaecocracy''}}</ref> and ''gynocracy'' also means 'women as the ruling class'.<ref>{{harvp|OED|1993|loc=''gynocracy''}}</ref> ''Gyneocracy'' is rarely used in modern times.<ref>{{harvp|OED|1993|loc=''gyneocracy''}}</ref> None of these definitions are limited to mothers.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Some question whether a queen ruling without a king is sufficient to constitute female government, given the amount of participation of other men in most such governments. One view is that it is sufficient. "By the end of [Queen] Elizabeth's reign, gynecocracy was a ''fait accompli''", according to historian Paula Louise Scalingi.<ref>{{harvp|Scalingi|1978|p=72}}</ref>{{Efn|[[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]], queen regnant of England and Ireland in 1533–1603}} Gynecocracy is defined by Scalingi as "government by women",<ref>{{harvp|Scalingi|1978|p=59}}</ref> similar to dictionary definitions<ref name="W3-3defs" /><ref name="AmHeritageDict3ed-3defs" /><ref name="RHsWebUnDict2ed-2defs" /> (one dictionary adding 'women's social supremacy' to the governing role).<ref name="W3-gynecocracy" /> Scalingi reported arguments for and against the validity of gynocracy<ref>{{harvp|Scalingi|1978|loc=p.&nbsp;60 & ''passim''}}</ref> and said, "the humanists treated the question of female rule as part of the larger controversy over sexual equality."<ref name="ScepterDistaff-Historian-p60">{{harvp|Scalingi|1978|p=60}}</ref> Possibly, queenship, because of the power wielded by men in leadership and assisting a queen, leads to [[queen bee syndrome]], contributing to the difficulty of other women in becoming heads of the government.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}}

Some matriarchies have been described by historian [[Bertha Eckstein-Diener|Helen Diner]] as "a strong gynocracy"<ref name="MothersAmazons-1965-p137">{{harvp|Diner|1965|p=173}}</ref> and "women monopolizing government"<ref>{{harvp|Diner|1965|p=136}}</ref> and she described matriarchal [[Amazons]] as "an extreme, feminist wing"<ref>{{harvp|Diner|1965|loc=p.&nbsp;123 and see p.&nbsp;122}}</ref>{{Efn|Amazon feminism, feminism that emphasizes female physical prowess toward the goal of gender equality}} of humanity and that North African women "ruled the country politically" before being overthrown by forms of patriarchy<ref name="MothersAmazons-1965-p137" /> and, according to Adler, Diner "envision[ed] a dominance matriarchy".<ref>{{harvp|Adler|2006|p=195}}</ref>

[[Gynocentrism]] is the 'dominant or exclusive focus on women', is opposed to [[androcentrism]], and "invert[s]&nbsp;... the privilege of the&nbsp;... [male/female] binary&nbsp;...[,] [some feminists] arguing for 'the superiority of values embodied in traditionally female experience'".<ref>Latter quotation: {{Cite book | last = Davis | first = Debra Diane | title = Breaking up [at] totality: A rhetoric of laughter | at = p.&nbsp;137 and see pp.&nbsp;136–137 & 143 | publisher = Southern Illinois University Press | location = Carbondale, Illinois | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0809322282 }} (brackets in title so in original) & quoting: {{Cite journal | last = Young | first = Iris Marion | author-link = Iris Marion Young | title = Humanism, gynocentrism, and feminist politics | journal = [[Women's Studies International Forum]] | volume = 8 | issue = 3 | pages = 173–183 | doi = 10.1016/0277-5395(85)90040-8 | date = 1985 }}</ref>

=== Intergenerational relationships ===
Some people who sought evidence for the existence of a matriarchy often mixed matriarchy with anthropological terms and concepts describing specific arrangements in the field of family relationships and the organization of family life, such as matrilineality and matrilocality. These terms refer to intergenerational relationships (as matriarchy may), but do not distinguish between males and females insofar as they apply to specific arrangements for sons as well as daughters from the perspective of their relatives on their mother's side. Accordingly, these concepts do not represent matriarchy as 'power of women over men' but instead familial dynamics.<ref>Ferraro, Gary, Wenda Trevathan, & Janet Levy, ''Anthropology: An Applied Perspective'' (Minneapolis: West Publishing Co., 1992), p.&nbsp;360.{{Verify source|type=title or year|date=October 2013}}</ref>

=== Words beginning with ''matri-'' ===
{{Further|list of matrilineal or matrilocal societies}}
Anthropologists have begun to use the term matrifocality.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}} There is some debate concerning the terminological delineation between ''[[matrifocal family|matrifocality]]'' and ''matriarchy''.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}} Matrifocal societies are those in which women, especially mothers, occupy a central position.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}} Anthropologist R. T. Smith refers to ''matrifocality'' as the kinship structure of a social system whereby the mothers assume structural prominence.<ref name="IntntnlEncycSocBehavSci-v14-p9416">Smith, R.T., ''Matrifocality'', in Smelser & Baltes, eds., ''International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences'' (2002), vol. 14, p.&nbsp;9416 ''ff.''</ref> The term does not necessarily imply domination by women or mothers.<ref name="IntntnlEncycSocBehavSci-v14-p9416" /> In addition, some authors depart from the premise of a mother-child dyad as the core of a human group where the grandmother was the central ancestor with her children and grandchildren clustered around her in an extended family.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=reU63yfgrWIC Ruether, Rosemary Radford, ''Goddesses and the Divine Feminine: A Western Religious History''], p.&nbsp;18.</ref>

The term matricentric means 'having a mother as head of the family or household'.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}}

[[File:Venus von Willendorf 01.jpg|thumb|Venus von Willendorf, a [[Venus figurines|Venus figurine]]]]
Matristic: Feminist scholars and archeologists such as [[Marija Gimbutas]], [[Gerda Lerner]], and [[Riane Eisler]]<ref>Eisler, Riane, ''The Chalice and the Blade'', as cited at the [http://www.rianeeisler.com/chalice.htm author's website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202041046/http://www.rianeeisler.com/chalice.htm |date=February 2, 2010 }}, as accessed Jan. 26, 2011.</ref> label their notion of a "woman-centered" society surrounding [[Mother Goddess]] worship during prehistory (in [[Paleolithic]] and [[Neolithic Europe]]) and in ancient civilizations by using the term ''matristic'' rather than ''matriarchal.'' [[Marija Gimbutas]] states that she uses "the term matristic simply to avoid the term matriarchy with the understanding that it incorporates matriliny."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gimbutas |first=Marija |title=The Civilization of the Goddess: The World of Old Europe |year=1991 |publisher=Harper |pages=324}}</ref>

[[Matrilineality]], in which descent is traced through the female line, is sometimes conflated with historical matriarchy.<ref name="InvisibleSex-pp251-255-255">Adovasio, J. M., Olga Soffer, & Jake Page, ''The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the True Roles of Women in Prehistory'' (Smithsonian Books & Collins (HarperCollinsPublishers), 1st Smithsonian Books ed. 2007 ({{ISBN|978-0-06-117091-1}})), pp.&nbsp;251–255, esp. p.&nbsp;255.</ref> Sanday favors redefining and reintroducing the word ''matriarchy'', especially in reference to contemporary matrilineal societies such as the [[Minangkabau people|Minangkabau]].<ref>Sanday, Peggy Reeves, ''Woman at the Center: Life in a Modern Matriarchy'' (Cornell University Press, 2004 ({{ISBN|0-8014-8906-7}})).{{Page needed|date=November 2013}}</ref> The 19th-century belief that matriarchal societies existed was due to the transmission of "economic and social power&nbsp;... through kinship lines"<ref name="LivingLapGoddess-p152-158-161">{{harvp|Eller|1995|loc=p.&nbsp;152 and see pp.&nbsp;158–161}}</ref> so that "in a matrilineal society all power would be channeled through women. Women may not have retained all power and authority in such societies&nbsp;..., but they would have been in a position to control and dispense power... not unlike the nagging wife or the domineering mother."<ref name="LivingLapGoddess-p152-158-161" />

A [[matrilocal residence|matrilocal]] society defines a society in which a couple resides close to the bride's family rather than the bridegroom's family.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sanctifying Misandry: Goddess Ideology and the Fall of Man|last=Young|first=Katherine|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-7735-3615-9|location=Canada|pages=33–34}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}}