"There's no reason to hit a woman" is probably the saying that makes my blood boil the most. Of course there are fucking REASONS to, we just don't do it (generally).
I overheard a conversation between some people in my biology class at Uni last week and old mate basically said what I said in the line above and used Chris Brown and Rihanna as an example. I must admit I cracked up laughing but he has a point. He said:
"Chris Brown obviously never should have beat her up but he must've had a reason.. I don't think she was just sitting there going 'I might have lasagna for dinn-' BANG"
His point was that men definitely have reasons to hit women, but very rarely is it justified. I quite often wonder, if a man can do something that warrants a beating then why can't a woman? For example, if a man cheats on his girlfriend and her big brother beats him up, would it be fair for her next partner to beat her up if she cheats on him?
Personally I don't think violence is the answer to anything, but women play a lot of mind games that can really hurt, a lot worse than a punch in the stomach or face would hurt tbh. Some women hide behind the fact society frowns on violence against women and will use it as a shield to protect themselves against the men they are hurting emotionally.
Should a man be punished more for beating up a woman than another man? There are a lot of women that are bigger than men, is it fair to say that a strong woman can't be expected to defend herself but a weak man can? Violence is violence. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Why does that change when gender is brought into it? Aren't men and women equal..?
Ideally I'd like to touch on two issues in this thread..
1) Is there any justifiable circumstance where a man can hit a woman?
(a) If yes, what makes violence against a woman justifiable?
(b) If no, are there any justifiable circumstances where a man or woman can hit a man?
2) Should there be any distinction between gender in assult cases? I.E. Should person X be punished more severely than person Y for the same crime, because it was against a woman?