A few things here.
IMO, the only time a woman should be physically dealt with is if she is coming at a man with a weapon that can kill him (gun, knife, club, chainsaw, etc.). Then it's self defense.
If a woman feels that if she can hit him at all, or if a man feels the need to hit a woman, then they don't need to be together, period.
If someone (male or female) is involved with someone who tries to provoke them into an argument or a physical confrontation, then they don't need to be together, period.
If a woman or man stays in a relationship where they get continuously physically or mentally attacked, they need to get counseling on self-esteem and how healthy relationships work, and they need to get out of the relationship.
In college, I was involved with someone who I was really into. She dumped me for someone who beat her ass consistently. I was also at a school where athletes and fraternity guys would physically, mentally, sexually, and emotionally abuse women, yet these men were still revered on campus - even by the women who they abused. It really fucked my mind up for several years, and gave me a very negative view of Black women. Much later, I talked to a friend of my ex, who told her that I treated her well, and was nice to her, but her "heart was somewhere else." This was after my ex married the guy and had children by him before finally divorcing him. I think she's on her third marriage now. I also learned that my ex had seen her mother become involved in abusive relationships, and that many of the women I knew - especially those who I dated who said I was "nice", but ended the relationship - grew up without fathers, or fathers who weren't around consistently, or in households where her father was abusive to her mother, and often to her. It showed me that there are a lot of fucked up women and men who don't know how to treat each other, what to look for in a potential partner, and what a good relationship involved. It also showed me that I have to be more selective of the type of woman I chose to be with, and that everything is not for everybody.
I remember when Stephen A. Smith got suspended by ESPN during the Ray Rice situation, when he said that some women provoke physical altercations in relationships. I am not a Stephen A. fan. Although I understood what he was trying to say, it came out wrong. It almost looked like he was justifying some women getting hit. He would have been better off just saying that nobody should be putting their hands on another person and left it at that. When men on here talk about being provoked, they need to ask themselves why they're involved with a woman who gets them angry to the point of wanting to hit someone? In a relationship. a woman is supposed to work with you, not stress you out.