gynaecocracy

Man became once more the chief of a family, and broke down the prerogatives of the gynaecocracy which had become established during the fatherless period.

In a former work the fact has been mentioned that the first clue obtained by Herr Bachofen, author of Das Mutterrecht, to a former condition of society under which gynaecocracy, or the social and political pre-eminence of women, prevailed, was the importance attached to the female principle in the Deity in all ancient mythologies.