First off, my point was that all of these girls react with violence when
there are other options.  This _is_ anime/manga and I don't expect then to

That's Takahashi humor for you. I guess that for the FFMLers, it's getting
old, that's all. It's still funny for people who haven't seen it before.

As far as Akane's reasons are concerned, she usually hits Ranma when he
shoots off his mouth (and in this case I think he deserves what he gets)
or when he's found in an awkward situation.  What would most people think
if they found their fiance/fiancee naked in a bath with another girl/boy?

A valid point. Akane had the right to be angry... but she should at least
have the curtousy to hear him out... then nail him. In some cases... Akane
smashes him even when it's BLATANTLY obvious that Ranma is trying to get
away. This is what I find annoying about Akane's treatment of Ranma. 

Even in the manga, the penchant for mis-understanding and jumping to the
wrong conclusion is taken to the extreme. In the part where Ranma get's
run over by Happosai (and the angry school girls following him) and lands
on Kodachi and Gosenkugi get's a photo of it. The fact that the picture
had to been altered had to be spelled out for her. Ranma's feelings for
Kodachi are so obvious that the only way to spell it out more blatantly is
to hit her over the head with a mallet (hmmm... fanfic idea?... naw.)

Akane is very insecure and when Ranma insults her or she sees him with
another girl, she reacts.  (Un?)Fortunately, Akane isn't the type to run
away crying when she's emotionally injured, she mallets.  

She must be really fragile to react to everything so badly that she has
to respond with that much force ALL the time. One of the biggest flaws
with Akane is that she has absolutely no faith and never questions
anything. I certainly wouldn't want to be teamed up with her to try to
solve a murder mystery. Her sense of deductive reasoning is as poor as
Ryouga's sense of direction.

It may be
obvious to the reader that Ranma is innocent, but Akane has seen Ranma in
a few too many situations that can't be easily explained.  (Any pervert
would claim that he didn't see in the sign outside of the bath, right?)

Ranma running around every so often in a dress doesn't help his case
either.

(BTW, are there any examples of Ranma really insulting Ukyou or Shampoo?)  

Not really... but the other girls are "generaly" nice to him. I seem to
recall Ranma telling Shampoo off once (Curse of the Contrary Jewel...
I'll have to watch it again). Of course, his exposure to the other girls
is a lot less. I suspect that Ranma would probably get offensive with
them too if he were stuck living with them for any periode of time. Well,
maybe not Ukyou, but he would get pissed off at Shampoo fairly quickly.

I guess it comes
down to what you consider a good reason for violence.  Lum shocks Ataru
when he chases women.  

DIFFERENT! Ataru IS being unfaithful... he deservers it. Ranma isn't.

Akane mallets Ranma when he gets caught in a
situation that makes him look like a pervert.  I've never heard people
complain about Lum's actions, but where's the difference in Lum's and
Akane's reactions?  Akane isn't omniscient and doesn't know that Ranma 
just has a case of bad luck.

Like I said, Lum is reacting to Ataru being a lecher. There's no question
in anyone's mind about Ataru's motives. Ranma's keeps his motives to
himself... since he knows that no one will believe him anyway. If I was in
his shoes... I would do the same.

Oh well, just my two cents.  Next I'll write a monologue about why Shampoo
glomps Ranma...  ;)

That I'd like to read. How long is it?

--
  ___________
 / Here lies:\    "Corner store", "Corner store!". Two thumbs up.
|   Andrew    | Me and Andrew Currie after discovering an empty fridge.
|             |
|   I think   |                    Andrew Petalik
| he's hungry |
|             | "Koala" -  Lina Inverse