I think sometimes reasons and limitations are specialized. I am a part of the 'most feared/threatening' demographic. I'm 6'2(188 cm) black man who works out. As such (and I'll exclude the escapist because we are all socially minded people) I'm seen as the threat. The Bully.
No matter what happened, Everyone is going to look at me and say that I could have controlled the situation, that I was never in any danger, or just by virtue of how I look, that I must have been the trouble maker. Even though I'm not a bad person, I've been talked to by cops a few times in my life. Even as a mistake.
I lived in Montreal for a few years. I had a fight with my then Girlfriend. I got pissed off, so I wanted to call home. My area code is 914. I turned to yell back at her and hit another one by mistake. Yup. 911. I realized the mistake, hung up and tried again.
30 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Cops were there. I had to explain the situation, and my ex was trying to tell them everything was ok, but she was a hysterical yeller, so she looked a mess. Yeah, we did have a fight, to which we mentioned, but I never did anything but yell. The lead cop came into my apartment, looked around and saw everything was in place (I assumed he was looking for signs of distress since we didn't know they were coming so we wouldn't have cleaned up) and decided it might have been a mistake after all.
But before they went, he gave us a warning. More over, he gave me a warning. He looked straight at me and said that if they were called again, I was going to jail. Even if it was a mistake. Because someone will have to be considered the aggressor or trouble maker, and the courts always side with the females.
Now, this isn't a law on the books. It's a Mores. But we all know it to be true.
As much as we have stereotypes we wholly accept for the genders (When women get angry, they see red, lose control of their emotions and lashed out), we forget them when it's convenient (why would a woman go threaten a bigger guy? it makes no sense. He must have started the whole thing). We as a society want to protect the woman because (usually) there's no way she can protect herself. Mores and cultural acceptances are slated against the man in confrontation, so that's why he should never hit the woman.
I don't care about the lasting damage argument. It's bullshit. After the few times I've talked to a woman after she lost it and she hit someone, the answer was always the same: 'I didn't care, I just wanted to hurt her/him at that point'
Why do we generally allow most women to get away with the crime just because most of the time she can't commit it as well as a man? We have laws to arrest or fine people for simply having the intent to do things. The intent of carrying an illegal weapon, to distribute alcohol to minors, to commit larceny or murder. Just the intent of doing these actions is enough to get a trip in front of the judge. And not only do these women have intent, but they actually committed the crime: Assault (by lifting her hand in accordance of the will to slap and harm the person) and Battery (by physically harming the person).
Tl:dr
Genetic Standpoint: Everyone should keep their damn hands to themselves because if you take away morality, anyone can punch your lights out if you batter them. That's on you. You rolled the dice once you punched, you made it into a physical thing. God/Science/Power Man Help you.
Cultural/Social/Legal Stand Point: You're always in the wrong if you're male and you're dealing with females. I've even noticed two females fighting and the cops just breaking it up with no arrests... which I never got. Yeah, the idea with more muscle mass, we have more natural armor than females. But if it's a woman fighting another woman, why is that ok? they have just as much capability to harm each other.
Anyway, if you're a male, you're always in the wrong dealing with females. You're always held to a higher standard. You're supposed to have more control over a woman. You're supposed to be suck it all up. You can walk away. Yes, she could do all those things too, also not slap you... but what do you expect? She's a woman.
... People with that mindset, do you have any idea how condescending that is to women? It's actually a bit abhorrent.