patriarchy

noun (plural patriarchies)

• a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is reckoned through the male line: the thematic relationships of the ballad are worked out according to the conventional archetypes of the patriarchy
• a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it: the dominant ideology of patriarchy
• [count noun] a society or community organized on patriarchal lines: we live in a patriarchy