Hitting a Female?

[KillerGremlin]

Inspired by this:
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And this:
<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uWch9E-Xi64?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uWch9E-Xi64?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
Context: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-09-03/tv/27906017_1_legal-notice-news-channels-reality-show
"This incident occurred four months ago. The participants of the show had to pass through the litmus test of abuses and spats. And it was all scripted! We were all given our parts where 70 per cent was to be said as is and 30 per cent would be improvisations," says Ravi. "There was this girl called Isha opposite me who was supposed to abuse me and I was to retaliate, but calmly. After a while when it came to improvisations, I presume she was out of words and came and slapped me hard. I was shocked and in the heat of the moment, I slapped her back. That led to the entire unit of about 70 people jumping on me beating me black and blue. It was a miracle in itself that I managed to escape from there," he says.

So how did this incident get flashed in the media now? "Luckily for me, somehow the tapes got leaked out and they were being shown on all the channels. I got myself a copy from one of the news channels and was happy that finally I acquired the proof to support me. And this time I will not be quiet. Just because they have power, it doesn't give them the licence to pull down people. I have sent a legal notice to the producers and asked for an apology publicly for defamation," avers Ravi, who is currently working in Ekta Kapoor's Kahaani Humare Mahaabharat Ki on 9X.


So there is this social norm that hitting a woman is 100% unacceptable. But in a society "moving towards gender equality" I have to ask: is it okay to hit a female? What if she hits you first?

[Typhoid]

I've been asking this question since I was 5!

When I was in elementary they pushed the "everyone's equal" thing pretty hard. So one day I picked a girl up off of the slide and dropped her on the ground. Same thing I'd have done if it was a boy. No idea why I did it - but it happened. All the (female) parents rushed over and started giving me shit. "You can't hit a girl", "It's not okay to hurt girls", so my 5 year old brain thought it was clever to say "But isn't everyone equal?" my mom had a good laugh while walking me away.


Anyways, I'm a fan of (In general, not like a personal philosophy): If you're willing to hit/hurt someone else, you better be prepared to get hit/hurt right back. Gender not optional. Age up for debate.

[Combine 017]

I wont walk up to some girl and punch her in the mouth, but if im being assaulted by someone then im going to fight back regardless of gender.

[Vampyr]

This is the wrong question.

No, it isn't alright to hit a female. What we should be far more disturbed by is how okay society is, or even approves of, a female hitting a male.

But to answer the question asked: yes, if she's actually a threat to you, otherwise restrain her or disarm her and take the weapon for yourself. That's the same response I would give if it were a male attacking you.

[Professor S]

This question was inevitable considering we are society that desperately wants to convince ourselves that everyone is the same. The fact of the matter is that men and women are not the same. Male upper bodies are 50% stronger than females. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_humans#Strength.2C_power_and_muscle_mass)

With this severe advantage comes a greater responsibility. If a woman physically attacks you it is your responsibility to restrain her at MOST. Otherwise, just walk away.

In other words, act like a MAN.

[KillerGremlin]

This question was inevitable considering we are society that desperately wants to convince ourselves that everyone is the same. The fact of the matter is that men and women are not the same. Male upper bodies are 50% stronger than females. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_humans#Strength.2C_power_and_muscle_mass)

With this severe advantage comes a greater responsibility. If a woman physically attacks you it is your responsibility to restrain her at MOST. Otherwise, just walk away.

In other words, act like a MAN.

These are on average reports. So it isn't always the case. Besides...I know where I'm taking this argument. If women are half as strong, I'm only going to hit her back half as hard.

But I think you legitimately extend this discussion with your last sentence. "Act like a MAN." I'd like to quote Vampyr:

What we should be far more disturbed by is how okay society is, or even approves of, a female hitting a male.

In a lot of situations it seems like women feel a sense of entitlement to hit a man....? What the fuck! That's like me, a man, feeling a sense of entitlement to earn more money at the workplace. It is a totally bullshit gender norm. Even males reinforce this gender norm. In the second video, that guy got mobbed by a pack of guys for basically reacting in a very human manner. And in the first video, when the cop got called out to investigate the girl being abusive to the guy? He said he was going to interview them to find out what was going on. Flip the gender roles and that cop is going to go into the situation with a "this guy needs an ass-kicking" mentality. Males acting like white knights who need to defend fragile princesses is also a bad gender norm...but I digress.

This isn't Hippy Social Class 101 or Idealism 100 at Liberal Ideas Unviersity.


It sounds like most people here are on board with defending yourself in a situation where a woman - or anyone, male, female, purple people - hits you first. If that includes slapping back...we see some diverging opinions.

The question is what do we do about it? Where is the entitlement?

[Angrist]

I answered it's not right to hit anyone... But I guess it's ok to defend yourself.

Isn't there some movie where the bad guys take advantage of the good manners of the hero by hiring a woman to attack him? It sounds so familiar.

[Bond]

Personally, I don't ever plan on hitting either gender unless it's absolutely necessary (excluding past [friendly] fights with friends).

I think the answer to this question is: behave like a reasonable person, i.e. proper conduct depends on the situation. I'm not a fan of blanket statements here, but rather the situation must be judged in context. I'll give two extreme examples:

A girl punches a bodybuilder. If the bodybuilder were a reasonable person, he would detain the girl and not punch her.

A girl punches a young man into an inch of his life. If the young man were a reasonable person, he would be able to punch her to save his life.

[KillerGremlin]

I think MMA fighters and other professional athletes have some sort of clause in their contract stating that they won't beat the shit out of people because it could be fatal. Don't quote me on that.

I also want to point out that slapping and punching are two different things.

At the core, the real issue here isn't hitting girls. It's the skewed view society has regarding a situation where a female being hit might be justified. It puts males in a compromising situation where they might face exaggerated consequences. :(

[Professor S]

The question stated: Is it ok for a man to hit a woman. No. Whether a woman is entitled to hit a man is another question and I would say no, they don't. But their bad behavior does not excuse your bad behavior.

If you want to talk about ridiculous extremes, then yes there would hypothetical cases where I think a man can be excused for hitting a woman, but that would be a case where its a very slight man and an incredibly strong and violent woman. I imagine these cases are extremely rare.

To use your second video example, the Indian gentleman performed badly and should have had the shit kicked out of him. He was not in any kind of real danger, and should have simply walked away and acted like a MAN. If she continued, he could have easily restrained her. Instead, he acted like a immature boy and hit her back far harder than she hit him.

[Zen]

I think MMA fighters and other professional athletes have some sort of clause in their contract stating that they won't beat the shit out of people because it could be fatal. Don't quote me on that.


If you are trained in martial arts and you were to injure a non trained fighter, were this to go to court you could be considered as a "legal weapon".

On the note of hitting a girl, or anybody for that matter, I believe if you are able to overpower a person you should do so. But I wouldnt be all like "I dont hit girls!" and let myself be stabbed, I would do whatever the situation demands.