Is It Ever Okay to Hit a Girl?

I’ll let this video speak for itself…

(Warning, some NSFW language in it)

Well that escalated quickly…

A few things:

-That was a pretty good shot she took at the guy at the beginning if it was enough to draw blood. Granted, it was a total sucker-punch, but she popped him right in the nose.

-The guy is visibly upset from the start, but keeps asking for “somebody to drop him off.”

-The cameraman says, “Call the police on her, call the police on her.” The girl’s response? “I’m 17–I can bring charges against you!“

-She swings at him again…they trade words…the guy in the green shirt tries to hold her back…and…BAM! He pops her.

The aftermath is predictable and swift. A lot of “did you just do that!?”, “You can’t hit a girl!”, and that type of thing.

But there are also a lot of people commenting on this that say “He had no choice! She deserved it!” and so on.

My question to you is “did this guy have options?” Let’s think about it a little bit. He could’ve:

1) Called the cops and waited outside for them to arrive.

That’s kind of rolling the dice though, isn’t it? He could get Joe Slackercop who just sort of laughs it off and tells him to keep your hands up and watch out for her right cross. Or he could get Larry Legaleagle who would make a huge production out of it, lock her up, and he’s known as the guy who had to call the cops on the girl who hit him.

2) He could’ve left the room and waited outside for a cab.

This is probably the most sensible thing to do, right? But in a perverse way, it rewards her bad behavior toward him. She’s not being corrected, so what’s to stop her from doing it again? Or worse, telling all her friends that “she kicked some guy’s ass,” and it’s a big joke to her?

3) He could’ve stood his ground and kept it non-physical.

Again, though, she kept taunting him. It didn’t seem like they were going to “talk things out,” at least in the heat of the moment.

4) He could take a swing at her like he did.

But clearly that’s not a good look for a man, either. That video does bring up a visceral response in the pit of your gut, doesn’t it? Even if she deserved it?

Or maybe it doesn’t–I don’t know.

Personally, I like to think I would go with #5:

5) Make her friend or boyfriend apologize. Then mention that you might not go to the cops, and let her stew for a few days. Maybe send a friend over with a notebook to “ask a few questions” of people that were there a few days later. Try to get a sober apology from her, then drop it.

Kind of long, kind of involved, requires a lot of effort, but I think it mixes enough of a potential punishment with not escalating things to the next level.

Of course, I could be wrong. Take this famous bit from comedian Bill Burr:

He separates the “reason” from the “act” pretty well, but sometimes it’s not so clear-cut.

Like what if Rhonda Rousey is attacking you, out of the blue? Then is it okay to hit her back? How much of a threat does the girl have to be? And if “being a threat” is the threshold, shouldn’t the same standard be applied to smaller, weaker guys too?

What would you have done? Is it ever okay to hit a girl? Did this girl deserve it? Or did the guy go too far?