Is the point you are making that he has no right to defend himself because he isn’t dainty? He’s pretty clearly angered and emotional. She is trying to start a fight. And it works. We have a lot of time here to consider our responses, he had about half a second. He retreated and she came after him. Plan A did not work. Plan B was to put his fist out. Your option was that he should have remained clam and taken her physical abuse. That isn’t how humans do things. Your earlier example of the kid at Toys R Us indicates a dispassionate stranger “attacked” by a toddler he doesn’t know. That isn’t the situation. This is a woman he is having an argument with that is already under his skin. He retreats and she follows up by chasing and attacking him.