Table of Contents
Definition of Patriarchal Authority
(noun) A family or group dynamic where the father or male exerts the most power and authority.
Example of Patriarchal Authority
- A family in which the father makes the decisions concerning finances and childcare with no or limited input from the mother.
Patriarchal Authority Pronunciation
Syllabification: pa·tri·ar·chal au·thor·i·ty
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /pay-tree-AHR-kuhl uh-thOR-uh-tee/
- British English – /pAY-triah-kuhl aw-thOr-i-tee/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˌpeɪtriˈɑrkəl əˈθɔrəti/
- British English – /ˌpeɪtrɪˈɑːkəl ɔːˈθɒrɪti/
Usage Notes
- Plural: patriarchal authorities
- A family led by a male is a patriarchy and called a patriarchal family or patriarchal household.
- In contrast to patriarchal authority, matriarchal authority is when power is exerted most by females or egalitarian authority, when power is shared.
- Also called patrifocality.
Related Quotation
- “There is an ordering of versions of femininity and masculinity at the level of the whole society, in some ways analogous to the patterns of face-to-face relations with institution. the possibilities of variation, of course, are vastly greater. The sheer complexity of relationships involving millions of people guarantees that ethnic differences and generational differences as well as class patterns come into play. But in key aspects the organization of gender on the very large scale must be more skeletal and simplified than the human relationships in face-to-face milieux. The forms of femininity and masculinity constituted at this level are stylized and impoverished. Their interrelation is centred on the single structural fact, the global dominance of men over women” (Connell 1987:183).
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “patriarchal” and “authority” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- egalitarianism
- family
- head of household
- homework
- household
- marriage
- sandwich generation
- symmetrical family
Reference
Connell, Raewyn. 1987. Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Works Consulted
Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Patriarchal Authority
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “patriarchal authority.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 17, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/patriarchal-authority/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
patriarchal authority. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/patriarchal-authority/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “patriarchal authority.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 17, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/patriarchal-authority/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“patriarchal authority.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 17 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/patriarchal-authority/>.