interesting point you've raised there RILMS....on a similar note, I want to offer you all a true story for discussion...this happened about a year ago.
I was out with a group of friends having a few drinks, few laughs, usual sort of stuff. The pub shuts and we all stagger outside. On the street outside of the pub, a girl came over and started to hug my friend. Unbeknown to him, she was stealing his wallet. Problem was, she wasn't very subtle about it, so when the rest of us saw it happening we all started shouting "OY!" and the like.
So then (for no reason) she completely flips out....I mean completely lost it....this girl started going absolutely nuts kicking and punching my mate. Now my friend's a passive kinda guy so he just stood there and took it....she punched away (and I'm talking full-on swings at his face here), kicked him in the nuts twice, kicked him so hard in stomach that he found out 2 days later that she'd broken 3 of his ribs. We couldn't get near her to pull her off, she was swinging away, kicking, biting, everything. Meanwhile, stood less than ten metres away, 2 bouncers stood and laughed.
Then she lashed out once more, punched my friend right across the cheek, missing his left eye by millimetres. She caught him with a ring on her finger which sliced open his face from his ear to his nose. So that was the last straw, my mate swiftly (and calmly may I add), slapped her across the face with one clean palm.
The bouncers dived in, pinned my mate to the ground, punched him hard in the face breaking his nose instantly. All the time screaming "never hit a girl you ******". Pinned me to a wall and banged my head against it til I passed out...and then proceeded to let the girl go....without even asking her name.
We then spent a night in custody for ABH and D&D....!! Obviously the next day they dropped the charges, but the fact is, it happened. And most importantly, it happened because of pure unadulterated sexism.
Now tell me...was my friend wrong to slap the girl?
2000 words on my desk by friday. Discuss.
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