Oh yeah, I had completely forgotten about that Sean Connery thing. I like that he stuck to his view and didn't change his opinion or pretend to change his opinion despite it being extremely unpopular. That said, a guy who will smack a woman around is a complete duche.
I very much agree with Vaderisnohayden in saying that it is a bit sexist to consider violence against women worse than violence against anyone else (i.e. a woman who beats on her husband or kids is equally upsetting to me as a man who beats on his wife and kids), but the real issue is with the person enacting the violence being more powerful than the one being treated violently. Biologically, men are typically stronger than women. Is this a mean sexist sort of a thing to say? Sadly, some women would take offense, but it is simply reality. You get a lot of guys who smack their wives around just because they can, it makes them feel powerful and in control, but in reality, they are just creeps beating on someone weaker than themselves. Same thing with child beating. If you really want to feel good about your brutishness, go pick on someone your own size.