Growing up in Egypt, we often forget how much the Egyptian culture and society affect us.  There are so many traditions and beliefs that get passed on to our children without us realizing them or even batting an eye towards them. How guys are supposed to treat girls is one of those issues. It is often passed on through generations that girls are inferior to men and should depend on them. Guys are not explicitly directed to mistreat girls, but are subconsciously taught to do so through what might seem like regular behavior. While we can’t list the examples in one article, we can sure provide you with a few below.

Stop telling guys that if they like a girl, they should ignore her

This is one of the things we often tell our boys a lot without giving it much consideration, but if we really stop and think about it for a minute, we will realize how ridiculous the idea is. Not only are we teaching our boys to treat girls badly, we’re teaching them that girls like it. What kind of world do we wish our girls to be born in? Do we really want them bullied by guys who supposedly like them?!

Discard the idea that if a boy has a sister, she should be the one preparing food for him

Seriously, there is absolutely no logic in that. How is it that you teach your boys to wait for their sisters to help their mothers prepare food or help with house chores? It’s either you teach them both to do the same tasks or you don’t. More often than not, boys grow up to become men with high expectations of what their wives’ duties are, when in fact, it’s not really a given. Believe it or not, some women are bad cooks! What is your child going to do next? Starve to death?!

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Teach them that any remarks about a girl’s appearance are not accepted

This falls back on the “if you like a girl, treat her badly” notion.  Young Egyptian men think it’s totally appropriate to mock a girl’s appearance just as a way to tease her. Not only that, but also when a girl complains to her mom about it, she would tell her that he’s only doing it because he likes her. While that might have worked for the older generations, it’s about time it changed. A guy should have no excuse whatsoever to comment on a girl’s appearance, unless he’s telling her that she’s pretty.

Stop passing on ridiculous social norms

Telling a guy that girls should be dressed in a certain way or behave in a certain manner has definitely become outdated. There is no right way for a girl to dress or behave to be worthy of a guy. If anything, instead of teaching them to comment on a girl’s short skirt or loud voice, teach them to respect her. Because she is a person, and she does have feelings.

Finally, I think we can all agree that it’s about time we stop teaching our boys to expect girls to be dependent on them, because truth be told; it has not been benefiting anyone. In fact, girls and women are becoming more independent and empowered by the day. They are working prestigious jobs and holding high positions for multinational companies. I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to believe that a woman can be so successful and still accepts a man’s dominating attitude.