A Western social and cultural system of institutionalized power structures that uphold and reinforce the social dominance of heterosexual, cisgender men, but oppress, dominate, and exploit women and gender minorities.
Within patriarchal societies, cisgender men typically control most wealth and private property and predominate in roles conferring citizens with significant political and/or moral authority.
The gender binary—based on biological essentialism—is often used to justify this power imbalance and consequently creates conditions for misogyny, transphobia, and transmisogyny to flourish.