Why Do Men Oppress Women?

Historically, in every culture across the Earth, there has been an imbalance in the relationship between men and women.  Women, often described as "the weaker sex" have been bullied, beaten down, suppressed, repressed and oppressed by the very men who, according to most male dominated religious teachings, were to be "rulers" over them.  But is this behavior spiritually correct? Have all religious teachings been twisted to justify mistreatement of women? Mistreatment creates distrust and where there is no trust there can be no true love between men and women, there is only the selfish manipulation of the others emotions . Until the relationship between men and women is corrected, the violence on the Earht will continue.  Why do men oppress women? Is it learned behavior? If so, then what should women be teaching their sons in order to break the cycle of oppression?