Gender discrimination is a deeply cultural problem, Rafik Santrosyan writes. The incident last month in Yerevan City Hall where a group of men beat a woman councilor highlight how patriarchal relations, toxic masculinity and internalized misogyny have influenced the public discourse.

From referencing the issue of sex-selective abortions to drinking toasts in honor of women, the grammatically genderless Armenian language, still fails to provide a space for its speakers to develop sensitivity towards the intricacies of gender as social conventions and cultural constructs. Rafik Santrosyan, PhD in Linguistics, explains how.