"The Handmaid's Tale" and the restriction of women

My middle school teacher used to always say, “if sex is the problem and if its such a risk and danger because men, who need to focus on public society, can’t control themselves around the women, why oppress and hide the women...why not put blinders on the men?” In addition, a question posed in lecture was, "is this (situations like the veiling of women or like in "the Handmaid's Tale"), the only means we have to ____?" (fill in the blank: better society, get the men to do their jobs, end "degrading" bodily objectification, make babies, etc.) Both the quote and the question bring up my question of, why are women always the first to be restricted of their liberties, their freedoms and what other changes in societies could be made before or instead of making drastic changes that subordinate women even further?