The paper discusses the relationship between patriarchy and formation of the Brazilian nation from a feminist perspective. From the works “Populações Meridionais do Brasil”, by Oliveira Vianna e “Raízes do Brasil”, by Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, I question the reference to the concept of patriarchy, bringing to the debate on the formation of Brazil the underlying asymmetric relations between men and women brought by such a concept. This approach allows for further discussion on the relationship between public and private spheres and the nation's formation, going beyond the criticism of the overlapping of public and private realms, present on Brazilian social thought patriarchal domination analysis