Today's AWAD is:

matriarch (MAY-tree-ark) noun

1. A woman who is the head of a family.

2. A woman who is the founder or leader of a group or community.

3. A venerable old woman.

[From Latin matri- (mother) + Greek -arch (leader, ruler).]

Patriarch is the masculine form of this word.

Matriarch resembles "monarch". So does a matriarch. She doesn't wear a crown but she wears the pants in the family. If you've got a problem with that, talk to dad about it. He's the one wearing the dressing down.