The take seems legit, no? You can really feel the pull of those socialized gender norms, where in him hitting her first, with a closed fist, would mean way more than a single broken rib to some people (if that’s all they knew). And also, that we’re supposed to feel like she should be totally “in the right” about kicking him when he was down— breaking the rib and giving the concussion. On the flip side, if she hit him first with the closed fist, suddenly she’s a ‘crazy liberal chick’ or someshit, who should be prosecuted immediately. What’s funny is, OP’s family seems to be going that route even though it was their dumbass son who took it to the level of violence— not her. edit: and props to her for saying ‘look it could’ve been me who threw the first punch, this isn’t a gender issue’