Last night one of my best friends and his wife, got into an argument. She has always been very physical. If he said a joke she didn't find funny, she'd smack him behind the head. She does shit like that all the time. Regardless of where they were or who's in front of them.

I guess the argument was bad (though he didn't get into specifics) that she started hitting him. To protect himself and get away, he pushed her back and she fell on the floor on her butt.

He left and drove to my house to cool off. About 10 minutes after he arrived, his wife's sister called and I can hear her yell at him calling him a "wife beater". As he was talking to her, he received texts from her friends calling him an abuser and threatening to call the cops on him.

These are people who have seen thier friend hit her husband and even laughed at it.

My buddy was in tears, saying it was so unfair.

I woke up this morning and he was on the phone with his wife and I guess they made up because he went home shortly after.

But that experience opened my eyes to the double standard that men face. When a woman hits a man, it's seen as harmless and even humorous.

But when a man hits back, even to defend himself, he is abusive, a wife beater, etc.