What does gynocracy mean?
Gynocracy is a noun meaning a system in which women hold the main political or social power. Its clearest use is as a counterpart to patriarchy: just as patriarchy describes authority organized around men, gynocracy describes authority organized around women. The term is most often encountered in political theory, sociology, feminist criticism, and speculative writing, although it can describe either an actual institution or an imagined alternative. In a broad sense, it may refer to domination by women across a society rather than only to formal government. The word is comparatively uncommon and carries a more explicitly analytical tone than simply saying “rule by women.” Its usefulness lies in making visible a reversal of the gender hierarchy assumed by many traditional political models, while also helping readers examine how systems of authority are described and conceptualized.
nounA form of government or social order in which women hold the principal governing power. The term can also refer more broadly to rule or domination exercised by women.
- A form of government or social order in which women hold the principal governing power.
- Rule or domination exercised by women, especially within a political or social system.
"The novel imagines a gynocracy in which women control the government while men occupy a subordinate position."
"Political theorists have used the concept of gynocracy to examine alternative arrangements of authority."
"The story is set in a distant gynocracy where political offices are inherited exclusively by women."
The standard plural is “gynocracies.”
"The study compares different forms of gynocracies across historical societies."
Gynocracy literally means “rule by women,” making the word an unusually direct challenge to the political vocabulary of male rule.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does gynocracy come from?
Gynocracy combines the Greek gynē, meaning “woman,” with kratos, meaning “power” or “rule,” through the same compositional pattern found in terms such as democracy and autocracy. The combination belongs to a wider family of English political vocabulary formed from Greek roots. It is cognate in its first element with words such as gynecology, gynecologist, and gynoecium.
Related word forms
How gynocracy is actually used
Gynocracy is primarily a formal political and sociological term. It is much less common than the corresponding masculine term “patriarchy,” and it may be used polemically when discussing systems of female authority or as a hypothetical model in political thought.
Easily confused with gynocracy
Gynocracy means rule by women, whereas gynecology is the branch of medicine concerned with women's health and reproduction.