What in the holy hell is PATRIARCHY?

Hi people of GAG--genuine question here! I've seen this term tossed around a LOT on here and I can't for the life of me make sense of it. The most understandable definition I've seen is "a social system in which the father is the head of the family." So I get what it means in a family setting but I'm not at all getting what it's supposed to mean when applied to society at large.

It strikes me in many instances to be a rejection of standards and hierarchies of any kind. So basically a kind of relativism that says nothing is any better or any worse than anything else.
What in the holy hell is PATRIARCHY?
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