Does she catch an uppercut if she doesn't decide to make it a physical altercation instead of a verbal one?

It's not deplorable, it's what happens when you attack someone stronger than you. Everyone ain't Foghorn Leghorn. Not everyone will just brush that shit off, and truth be told, everyone shouldn't have to.

She hit him because she felt she was protected by the "men don't hit women" rule. She thought it was ok. She found it it wasn't. That's the lesson here.