Sounds a lot more like fighting back and standing up for themself than “hitting girls”, no? I don’t know what the original post is, but if he was subjected to physical violence then responding with physical violence isn’t unreasonable. The same would be true if the genders were swapped.

With that said, the emphasis on about pride is odd… I can’t tell if they’re speaking from personal experience or if it’s some chud toxic masculinity expectation thing. In either case, that’s very flawed. The idea that his self-esteem has to be “repaired” through having a capacity for violence is what I take issue with the most.

Self defense is about protecting yourself and others, not about making you feel strong or improve your self-esteem. That’s some typical male power fantasy bullshit. Also bullying shouldn’t damage self-esteem: it’s a reflection on the bully, not the person they’re bullying; and that perspective needs to be taught. There’s a difference between “a bad thing happened to me”, and “I deserved the bad thing because I’m me;” the damage to self-esteem happens from the latter, the former isn’t a remark of character at all: merely a statement of fact. There’s also something in here about “victimhood” being stigmatized similarly, but I’ve rambled enough.