matrifocal
\ ma-truh-FOH-kuhl, mey- \ , adjective;
1.focused or centered on the mother.
2.of, pertaining to, or designating a family unit or structure headed by the mother and lacking a father permanently or for extended periods.
Quotes:
The matrifocal family occupies a curious position in anthropological writings, sometimes seen as a definite family structure based on a cultural valuing and centrality of the mother, and sometimes as a temporary or ad hoc response to poverty and exclusion.
-- Edited by Alan Barnard and Jonathan Spencer, "The Routledge Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology" , 1996
Therefore, we are not talking about matriarchal families in which mothers head the household, but rather matrifocal societies than emphasize the mother-child bond.
-- Venetria K. Patton, "The Grasp That Reaches Beyond the Grave: The Ancestral Call in Black Women's Text" , 2013
Origin:
Matrifocal is a blend of the combining form of māter , Latin for "mother," and focal , "of or pertaining to a focus." It entered English in the mid-1900s in the context of cultural anthropology.
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