Initially this term was used in anthropology to designate a family structure in which an older male (usually a father or grandfather) is in control of family life. In feminism this term is extended to describe an entire society in which men are in control on both a micro and macro scale, that is to say, in control of individual families as well as the principal organs of power. Patriarchal societies are inherently hierarchical, privileging one group of people, namely men, over another for no other reason than gender. Popular expressions like âglass ceilingâ reflect this situation in which it appears that women cannot reach the highest levels in a given society because of their sex, despite being well qualified to do so.