Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and authority are primarily 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. Most anthropologists hold that there are no known societies that are unambiguously matriarchal.
Nampeyo, of the Hopi-Tewa People, in 1901; with her mother, White Corn; her eldest daughter, Annie Healing holding her granddaughter, Rachel
Margot Adler (2004)
Venus von Willendorf, a Venus figurine
Mosuo woman
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are held by men. The term patriarchy is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in feminist theory to describe a broader social structure in which men as a group dominate women and children.
"FIGHT PATRIARCHY" – a graffito in Turin