After watching the video of Florida State University Quarterback De'Andre Johnson's aggressive encounter with a young woman at a bar, I immediately thought, "I can't believe he hit her. What gives him the right to lay his hands on her?" I was so outraged at the fact that this woman just got socked in the face by a man twice her size.

I'm still pretty angry that he hit her, and I still don't think he had any right to even lay a finger on her. But I also realized from watching the video another time or two that even though Johnson was wrong for hitting her, she did something wrong too.

In the video, we see Johnson approach the bar, pushing his way towards the front and, in doing so, pushing up against his victim. The young woman reacts to Johnson angrily, raising a closed right fist at him. The two appear to be arguing when Johnson grabs onto the woman's arm and pushes her back in what seems to be an attempt to stop her from throwing a punch. The woman becomes more enraged by Johnson's actions, winds her left arm up and takes a shot at Johnson's face. In retaliation, Johnson returned a much stronger punch to the woman's face and walked away from the situation.

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Now, I myself do not appreciate being jerked around and become defensive when I have to. I do not blame the woman who was attacked for being angry at Johnson for shoving his way towards the bar. I personally would have had a couple of unkind words for him. However, ladies, we often enjoy the luxury of a double standard in our society when it comes to physical altercations. Our expectation is that men, being the "gentlemen" that we always (and often erroneously) assume they will be, will not retaliate if we slap them, or punch them, or kick them. We assume that because we are women, they will be respectful, chivalrous, accepting of the fact that we are angry and that a little aggression from a woman won't hurt. Not that we shouldn't think wishfully of men, but in a generation where the laborious fight for equality is becoming more and more fruitful, should we really be treating men in a way that we don't want to be treated?

I mean who are we kidding, women these days are WAY less fragile than they used to be. We've evolved into superwomen. We work out, we lift, and get this, some of us even drink protein shakes *hold for dramatic gasps.* We could easily throw a punch to hurt someone. Having said so, being that we are strong women, why resort to violence? The adults in our lives have been telling us since we were little that violence is not the answer, so why not apply that even when we expect to be protected by societal constructs?

This is not to say that there aren't situations in which self-defense is the answer because when it comes to fighting for survival, I say unload. But let's be the bigger, stronger, more respectful people here, ladies. Just because it is understood that physically attacking a woman is a no-no, let's not forget that physically attacking anyone is wrong, and not everyone we cross paths with will take a punch and walk away. Not every man is going to accept the fact that they shouldn't retaliate in an equally aggressive way because we are women. The saying "what goes around comes around" is pretty relevant when taking jabs at another person so why unleash that wicked right hook and take the risk of possibly getting rocked back? Let's all save it for the punching bags.

It is a true privilege to be ultra-respected as women just because society says so. Let's not abuse it.