IT’S high time we make the male population of our country understand that the latest incident involving a standee at a petrol station is absolutely offensive.

So here we are in 2017, society may be different today than yesterday but issues pertaining to women’s rights and, especially, how some men continue to belittle our social standings have not changed that much.

Although, today, society has broken down certain gender barriers and we find ourselves telling our daughters that they can choose whatever career paths they want – a doctor, a pilot, a politician or an entrepreneur and assure them that girls can climb trees and play sports; some of us have chosen to overlook how important it is to teach our sons how to respect us and this is a problem that we must address diligently.

Our sons are still being discouraged from developing interests that are deemed to be feminine; they are encouraged to be tough (i.e. boys don’t cry), play rough (i.e. boys will be boys) and society reinforces this warped sense of gender stereotyping that is seemingly difficult to classify as we delve deeper into the 21st century.

Why is this important, you may ask? Because of the increasing numbers of violence and other atrocities committed against women – we need to do this now more than ever. Every violation or aggression perpetrated will limit a woman’s mobility, erode one’s peace of mind and hinder us from ever achieving the great nation we all hope to become.

Let’s get one thing straight: women and girls are often blamed for the bad things that happen to us. We tell our daughters to cover up, be careful of whom they befriend on Facebook, and society imposes a salvo of behaviour guidelines for us to follow.

Breaking any of these guidelines will brand you a ‘slut’, ‘tramp’ and basically everything that has anything to do with low moral values. Discussions usually focus on why young women should keep themselves safe but almost never about how men (young and old) should exercise enough common decency to not cross the line.

While these suggestions may provide some level of solution, it is not the ultimate solution that can quell misogyny. These measures fail to address the broader social issues and are incapable of identifying the root causes, as a result, society often uses the easiest way out: victim blaming and slut-shamming.

Of course we should be worried about our girls – I’m not saying we shouldn’t – but we need to pay close attention to our boys, as well. Parents, in particular fathers, should support positive values and attitudes by making them understand that certain behaviours are unethical.

Calling them out by using empathetic statements like “What if your mother or sister was in the photo?” or “How do you think your mother or sister would feel if you said or did that to them?“can do wonders and deter them from committing heinous acts in the future.

While social media has presented society another medium to degrade women, sexism and misogyny aren’t new occurrences. However, what is (new), is how some members of our society use technology to circulate tasteless photos and saturate misogyny to the point where some of us believe it to be somewhat acceptable.

Gloria Steinem famously said “I’m glad we’ve begun to raise our daughters more like our sons, but it will never work until we raise our sons more like our daughters” and this is exactly what we ought to emulate:  if we want to create an equitable society, one in which everyone can thrive and benefit from, we need to start teaching our sons the same values as our daughters.

We must teach them to reject aggressive behaviour, bigotry and gender-stereotyping.  We can put an end to the culture that supports misogyny and create a new normalcy by developing and encouraging healthy relationships through equal partnership.

While patriarchy is entrenched and pervasive, the deafening silence and apathy, mostly from our men and boys, help perpetuate sexual discrimination and misogyny. – June 8, 2017.

* Syerleena is a councillor at the Penang Island City Council (MBPP). She is a Malaysian who believes that our life experiences shape us into fascinating beings.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.