- Androcracy
Androcracy or andrarchy is a
form of government in which the government rulers are men. This term derives from the Greek root words "andros", or "man", and "kratos" (as indemocratic ), or "ruled".Example
In modern societies, most governments are ruled by men.Fact|date=July 2008 The rise of
feminism in the 20th century brought access to contraception and increased equal opportunities for women, both of which enabled women to challenge the traditional hegemony of androcratic institutions. Nevertheless, studies have been conducted in Africa, Australia, and Europe which continue to demonstrate a disproportionate representation of men in government. As of 2004, women represented 15.5 percent of all parliamentarians.Fact|date=July 2008where Nordic countries have the highest representation at close to 40 percent, while Arab states have the lowest, at near 6 percent.Fact|date=July 2008Riane Eisler uses this term in her book, The Chalice and The Blade, along with the term Gylany, a goddess-centered "partnership" society, as opposed to "Androcracy", a hierarchical "dominator" culture. (See
gynocracy .)Gender bias
Androcracy as a gender bias may influence the decision-making process in many countries, and women's issues may or may not be poorly represented as a result of gender discrimination. Kleinberg and Boris point to a dominant paradigm which promotes wage-earning fathers with financially dependent mothers, the exclusion of same-sex couples, and the marginalization of single-parent families.
Gynecocracy
The opposite of androcracy is gynecocracy, sometimes referred to as
gynocracy , or rule by women. It is related to but not synonymous withmatriarchy . Evidence indicating historical gynecocracies survives mostly in mythology and in some archaeological records, although it is disputed by some authors, like Cynthia Ell in her bookthe Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory . The occasionally proposed theory of a "Universal Matriarchy" of prehistorical times is generally considered to be mythical and not a historical fact.ee also
*
Gynocracy
*Matriarchy
*Patriarchy External links
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