You said you used a lead pipe to "correct" your husband, and it made him grumpy. I get the joke. It implies you use it as a form of corporal punishment. The wrong I am trying to correct here is your passive arrogance. I admitted my "jokes" were offensive. You see nothing wrong with your "joke" and refuse to be held accountable for it. I would never make a "joke" like yours and expect a domestic abuse victim not to be offended by it. Since I have never hit a spouse myself (like you) is it still OK for me to joke about it? I'm just looking for the same rules to apply to both of us. I do have an issue with women who live by different standards than they impose on men. Do you refuse to accept the fact that some poor guy out there who gets wailed on by his wife (it happens) would not like your "joke"? Real maturity is being responsible for your deeds and words, not rationalizing them away. I'm just tring to make you think about this issue a little closer, and sometimes you have to shock and offend folks to really open their minds.