Hey, that does bring up an interesting point. Why should we forgive
Akane's endless pounding of Ranma? Even if he calls her names and so
on, usually he's at least partially right (she *CAN'T* cook through most of
the manga and she *IS* a tomboy by definition). That doesn't give her
cause to be a fiance-beater.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Actually, I don't believe I would term it "endless" at all.  My impression has
generally been that she doesn't really pound him all that often, and the
occassions diminish as the manga continues, and are usually the direct
result of something cruel that Ranma says.  Now, I realize that this isn't
really a justification for Akane pounding on Ranma, but I think he does it
expecting to get pounded.  Hear me out on this.

There was a story recently called "Fool's Farewell" or something like
that, that I thought captured what's really going on with Ranma pretty
well (though Akane, IMO, was OOC).  I think Ranma  torments Akane to
test her reaction as well as to cover his own feelings.  A perfect
example of this is in the first chapter of manga volume 37, where he is
presented with Akane in a wedding kimono.  He is shocked at first and
can't respond, but after Akane wakes up, Ranma recovers and says, in
effect "well, Japanese-style clothes are best for a woman with no
figure" (meaning Akane) and gets punted out.  Given the way he says
this, I think it fairly evident that he's doing it to get a rise out of Akane. 
Immediately afterwards, though, he can only think about how cute she
looked.  I think that, if she hadn't reacted, then he would become alarmed:
it would mean she didn't care anymore.  

In this, I submit, Ranma is a lot like Ataru, who, as the UY manga is
winding down, carries on in front of Lum mainly to test *her* reactions
and out of pride.  Ataru knows he is going to get zapped;  Ranma knows
he will get pounded.  What would worry them is if nothing happened
after they provoked their partner.  

In any event, it really seems to me that people who harp on Akane's
beating Ranma overstate how frequently she does it.  This may be
because of the anime, which, from what I have seen, does seem to
show it more frequently than does the manga.  But then, as I have noted
before, I rate the anime as no more indicative of RT's intent than
fanfiction written by y'all, so...  Oh, and I didn't refer to Fool's Farewell
above as evidence in support of my argument, but as a story which
illustrates what I believe is actually going on in Ranma's head.

Finally, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that Ranma is a silly comedic
comic story, and regardless of how we see it, I doubt RT intends for us
to worry about spousal abuse or anything serious in her stories...

Tom