lock.

So...he admits he'd deliberately commit assault and/or battery depending on country/area of origin? PIcking up another person without their permission can be that, too. Holding her back may be a little fuzzier, but unsolicited physical contact, especially it implies a threat of bodily harm, that could be a criminal offense.

Nobody should be hitting anyone, nobody should be touching or handling anyone else without their consent. Especially when folks insert themselves into someone else's altercation, potentially (and/or probably) escalating it.

I just...what? No. It's not okay to hit a girl. It's not okay to hit a guy. It's not okay to hit.

I understand where you are coming from. Hitting isn't acceptable. I'm just saying that if worse comes to worse, I don't think it's right for men to physically harm a female when they are obviously stronger. This doesn't mean women should hit either.

I see where you're coming from, too, and I think I'm reacting from a position where I don't want to acknowledge gendered codes of behavior. The phrase "it's not okay to hit a woman" implies, if you turn it around, that it is okay to hit a man. Or that it's okay, maybe, for women to hit each other. I don't believe that to be true.

If it has to do with "because female", I'd rather focus on the nature of the hitting, because otherwise it's a kind of a sexist concept. I don't think anyone should be hauling off and hitting anyone else, be it man or woman.

Nobody should be hitting anyone unless it's in self defense. End of story.

Honestly, this seems like it's asking more for advice than it is for a debate so I'm going to go ahead and move it to the issues and advice forum.

As for hitting, hitting is never right under any circumstances, from either gender.

I don't think anyone should ever be hitting anyone, and this guy sounds like an asshole that you should stay away from, imo.

In general, no.

If in self defense, perfectly fine.

Same goes VICE VERSA.

I agree with you, violence should always be avoided whether it's against a man or a woman, I know that there has been some debate that if a woman can hit a man he can hit her back but I don't agree. I think that being pacifistic can work at both ends and hitting anyone is a last resort.

I think hitting anyone is wrong. The only exception is if you have to defend yourself or someone else.

Compunctions about hitting a girl are there for a reason. (That being that we're just not as strong as guys. One of those barriers between civilization and rule by brute force.) That said, if the girl in question is wailing on somebody, she's the one who broke the social contract and the victim becomes your first concern.

I think where possible - WHETHER A MALE OR FEMALE, if a person knows they have more strength than another they should simply hold them down. so if a big girl was beating on a small guy, he has the right to fight back, and the girl would be in the wrong for taking advantage of his size. same for the opposite. I try not to agree with things like this because it's sexist to say a girl can but a guy can't. I think it depends on the situation and also where the people stand in terms of who has a better chance. if a girl slaps a guy over something petty, I say he better slap her back, but only with the same force that she did.

No one should be hitting anyone - male or female.

I agree with , though. It really comes down to size/strength disparity. At the end of the day, a lot of guys are typically just stronger/bigger than a lot of women (I'm 5'3" and pretty petite myself, and most guys are taller/stronger than me, for example). There are ways to diffuse a fight or situation by simply holding someone down or back but without physically assaulting them, and in most cases I think the bigger/stronger person should opt for that option. I agree that if there was a case in which it was a much larger/stronger girl, she should also not be using force to punch a guy or whatever.

I really don't think there is any reason to hit a woman. He should not have made that comment to you if you were joking. He sounds like he could have some anger issues to react like that. If his girlfriend is in trouble, obviously he should help her, but not plan on hitting someone as the first step.

Like the others have said, hitting/attacking anyone is not okay unless you're defending yourself or someone else from immediate physical harm.

As for the morality of a guy actually hitting a woman if she's say, attacking his girlfriend, then I think it would be more politically/morally correct for him to try and get between his girlfriend and the attacker rather than resorting to violence or grabbing the other woman and holding her down. It's hard to fight someone when there's another person in the way, after all. He might get a few bruises and scratches here and there, but if he really cares for his girlfriend then he won't put her though the stress of worrying about him going to prison over assaulting another woman.