After reading this thread, I've been thinking about this time I was having a conversation with a co-worker about 15 years ago, and I still remember the conversation. I don't remember why, but my co-worker told me that he would consider hitting his wife if she made him really mad. I remember having no idea why my co-worker would tell me this, other than that he might have been seeking some kind of validation for having done so in the past. I don't remember how I responded, since I think I was so puzzled as to why he would tell me this and actually might not have registered my disagreement. I remember thinking that I couldn't imagine any circumstance in which it would be acceptable for someone to strike his or her spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend. So I don't find it at all sexist to say something like, "I would never hit a woman."
