Pakistan, April 7 -- What's worse than taking a deplorable (rather confusing) dig at women? Sitting back, adding to the chaos with a glaring non-apology and putting the onus on those you offended. Television actor Adnan Siddiqui might not have given his derogating comment a thought before comparing women to flies in a live media appearance.

After all, ours is a country that does not toy with the idea of respect for women. The ensuing controversy must have come as a big surprise: since when do men need to worry about words? That such a comparison reinforces harmful stereotypes and devalues the dignity of women would not have crossed his mind, leading to him missing an opportunity to own his actions and demonstrate a willingness to change....