In terms of culture:
It can be cultural in nature (In the arab world if your wife is non compliant its one of their usual methods that help instill authority at home).
For Turkish citizens this is also a practice that is not unusual.
For the Chinese men are definitely held in higher regard and do not take lightly to women speaking up against them.
In terms of physical abuse:
Gender Equality comes into play.
Women (especially in the west) tend to believe that they are able to excercise a certain degree of violence on men under the premise that they are physically weaker and tend to use it as a shield. (The belief that a gentleman will accept physical punishment to uphold the standards of being a man is now an illusion)
You will usually see men fight back in this day and age because the new generation of men do not believe in being simps/weak men.