Speculation on why Ranma allows people to abuse him

[antimatterenergy]

Talking to someone on a chat line and started thinking about this.
Some possible reasons Ranma allows the abuse to be done to him.
1. It's a slapstick comedy and Ranma is generally the one who is hit.
2. Ranma has been abused so much that he has come to expect abuse or at least gotten so used to it that he no longer really cares. I know that's a sad thing to say but its true he was hit and insulted by his father for most of his life in the name of training.
3. He appears to allow people to hit him when he feels guilty. This is particularly true with Akane and Ryoga.
4. Doesn't know how to retaliate. Ex. When Nabiki is manipulating him. Hitting her would be against his moral code because she isn't a martial artist and weak and he doesn't know what way to retaliate.
5. He's too forgiving and can't hold a real grudge.
6. His live in the moment way of thinking.
7. He has very bad luck.
Anyone dispute these or have anymore possible reasons.

[Zwzn]

Talking to someone on a chat line and started thinking about this.
Some possible reasons Ranma allows the abuse to be done to him.
1. It's a slapstick comedy and Ranma is generally the one who is hit.
2. Ranma has been abused so much that he has come to expect abuse or at least gotten so used to it that he no longer really cares. I know that's a sad thing to say but its true he was hit and insulted by his father for most of his life in the name of training.
3. He appears to allow people to hit him when he feels guilty. This is particularly true with Akane and Ryoga.
4. Doesn't know how to retaliate. Ex. When Nabiki is manipulating him. Hitting her would be against his moral code because she isn't a martial artist and weak and he doesn't know what way to retaliate.
5. He's too forgiving and can't hold a real grudge.
6. His live in the moment way of thinking.
7. He has very bad luck.
Anyone dispute these or have anymore possible reasons.

Ranma thinks he is trash. So he lets others treat him like trash. My reasoning is the curse, and his father's training has hurt him more then he lets on. He would likely be the confident person he seems to me to pretend to be.

[mondu_the_fat]

All of the above.
I'd also like to add that he's fairly dense, despite the various excuses given in fanfiction.

[Atlan]

machoism? The one he seems to love the most, hits him the most. Are all those insults accedental or delerbrite?

[Acey]

machoism? The one he seems to love the most, hits him the most.

Actually he only occasionally hits himself ~^

[Greybara]

i think ranma lets people hit him because he takes it as normal, and is either entirely unwilling or incapable of understanding that people are abusing him, since in his mind being abused would mean hes weak or girly, no ranma wouldnt like that idea at all. better to be hit and NOT be a weak little girl

[MacShimi]

My personal judgement on why Ranma allows people to hit him is that he thinks that he deserves it. I think that while Ranma is extremely confident about things he understands -- Martial arts for example -- outside areas that he understands he projects a false impression of confidence. Frequently this false impression gets him into trouble. When his actions result harm being done to others Ramna believes that they should be allowed to inflict harm on him in their turn.
I think this also goes for an explanation as to why Ramna allows Shampoo to glomp him. Sure, usually Ramna wriggles his way out, but at least initially he's willing to let her glomp him as part of his conscience's way of allowing her to have reparations for the damage his refusal to recognize her claim of marriage is doing to her.
Ranma, to me, is written as a comedy, but like many comedies it has a bleak underside when you take a closer look.

[crystlshake]

I think part of it is probably conditioned association. As stated earlier, his upbringing leaves a lot to be desired. Its kind of hard to determine, but depending on how brutal Genma was outside of 'obvious' training exercieses, Ranma may veiw it on some level as a normal part of showing affection. Alternatively his lack of contact with normal child rearing conditions may have implanted the idea that under certain situations he should expect to get hit, and resisting the punishment will make it worse.
Overall I think a lot of his problems are the result of how he was raised. The deep psychological scars, impressions, and expectations are the result of Genma's questionable parenting, his mothers lack of parenting and lack of social contact. Though he puts up a strong facade, Ranma is pretty out of depth with the 'normal' situations that he runs into when they stop in Nerima. A false show of confidence and self worth contributes to his being hit. Until Nerima his social interaction seems spotty at best leaving little time for him to observe normal interaction between people. Most times when they did go into town, Ranma would likely be fighting someone for training or to sponsor their trip.
In addition, his father's approval probably has more weight to it than even ranma gives credit for. Though he balks at being forced or manipulated as the one person who would be the most important in his life up to this point would be his father. Genma still played the vital caregiver role during his childhood and Ranma would probably have to be betrayed pretty heavily before he didnt care what his father thought. It could be easily argued that Genma berating him about his curse probably hurt their relationship as much as or even more than the cat-fist training.

[Benjamin A. Oliver]

Slapstick comedy. It's no fun 'till someone gets hurt. ^_^
And he's perfectly fine afterwards. Some people have tried to apply real-world physics and abuse issues to it, but then the series suddenly becomes un-funny. Ranma characters can take a lot of damage and come back begging for more without ill effects. No one complains about crushing, say, Roger Rabbit, with an anvil. We just tend to take anime more seriously because the characters look more human. But really, we may as well be watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon when we're talking about injuries and their consequences.

[Drawde]

I agree with Benjamin. It's a slapstick comedy.
Speculating can be fun though, and can be interesting when used correctly for a fic.

[Greybara]

I think part of it is probably conditioned association. As stated earlier, his upbringing leaves a lot to be desired. Its kind of hard to determine, but depending on how brutal Genma was outside of 'obvious' training exercieses, Ranma may veiw it on some level as a normal part of showing affection. Alternatively his lack of contact with normal child rearing conditions may have implanted the idea that under certain situations he should expect to get hit, and resisting the punishment will make it worse.
Overall I think a lot of his problems are the result of how he was raised. The deep psychological scars, impressions, and expectations are the result of Genma's questionable parenting, his mothers lack of parenting and lack of social contact. Though he puts up a strong facade, Ranma is pretty out of depth with the 'normal' situations that he runs into when they stop in Nerima. A false show of confidence and self worth contributes to his being hit. Until Nerima his social interaction seems spotty at best leaving little time for him to observe normal interaction between people. Most times when they did go into town, Ranma would likely be fighting someone for training or to sponsor their trip.
In addition, his father's approval probably has more weight to it than even ranma gives credit for. Though he balks at being forced or manipulated as the one person who would be the most important in his life up to this point would be his father. Genma still played the vital caregiver role during his childhood and Ranma would probably have to be betrayed pretty heavily before he didnt care what his father thought. It could be easily argued that Genma berating him about his curse probably hurt their relationship as much as or even more than the cat-fist training.

It might be necissary though, even if genma knows it causes more hatred tward him, it also makes ranma hate his curse more, the more he hates his curse the less they have to worry about a contract,

[MaximumZorch]

Another viewpoint:
Being raised by Genma, and his displayed mysogyny, it could be something as simple as he doesn't take them seriously.
Although I personally agree with Benjamin, it's slapstick and for the most part, it doesn't keep him down for long.

[FOG3]

8) Resistance is futile, as it will only cause him to be ostracized by Clan Akane and greater abuse.
When Ranma's introduced we see and individual who is relatively meek and kind, with a streak of micheviousness and the capacity to be occassionally thoughtless in his actions.
Common sayings of his philosophy being such as:
Necessity knows no law.
Out of universe Takashi doesn't seem to give a rats about maintaining a proper continuity.
In universe:
Akane was downright unreasonably abusive practically from the get go. For a while he seems to just take it, as everyone around him has joined Clan Akane and declares whatever she does no matter how criminal or barbaric to be right, and defiance worthy of punishment. Tofu is the perfect example of this.
After a while he begins to fire back insults, but not initially. Thus being a clear indication, of the result of effective escalation, and enviromental effects. This just results in further abuse.
From that point forward in addition to the warping effect such an environment has on his personality, we do see him try to occassionally get in some attempts at petty revenge. Is it any wonder he's the way he is, after extended exposure to such an enviroment. Humans have a _need_ to feel they're right. Of course, we have arcs like the Stomperilla one indicating on some level his personality is still in original specs.
Indeed, what are his options? It's not like anyone around him is going to stand with, or up for him. He has nothing remotely resembling a true support base.
Killing them in their beds would be against his character, and I doubt he's desperate enough to think of it anyway. Physical retaliation will only result in being ostrasized, and further abused. Verbal retaliation is largely inneffective in bring anything more then further physical abuse. Fleeing, would only lead to him being hunted down and greater abuse for the attempt. He has no real authority behind his word as far as getting his say, and resistance will bring further abuse from one channel or another.
So as no one will stand up with or for him, what options does he have other then to submit which would result in a minimum of abuse?
EDIT:
Indeed, at least No. 6, wasn't exactly abused in his Village and the means escape a tad more apparent.

[Alathon]

The reason I think "Ranma lets himself get hit", is because Ranma 1/2 is mostly slapstick comedy which involves people getting hit. I don't think the original Japanese audience would have ever seriously made a connection to child abuse or anything like that, both because it's not such a hot topic there (from what I've gathered), and because it would be a lot harder to take seriously. Given how misogynistic Japanese culture is, it's my suspicion that most of the Japanese audience would know in their hearts that if Akane was slapping Ranma around and it wasn't just a gag, Ranma would put the girl in her place faster than you can say "shut the fuck up, bitch."
In writing fanfiction that isn't comedy and which is directed primarily at a western audience, the two most credible motivations to me are this. He doesn't really see it as being that bad, since he's been fighting for pretty much his entire life and doesn't really perceive violence as being that bad, other than that it hurts. And that it's a lot easier for him to take blows than it is to try to change the status quo with verbal and emotional confrontations that he sucks at.

[Amarielah]

Hi, complete newb, but I still have to give my two cents in.
I agree with several of the previous replies: Ranma is a slapstick comedy that doesn't take itself seriously in the least. Heck, even when Ranma is supposedly seriously injured by his 'abuse', he's perfectly fine the next time we see him. I mean, come on-- delivery girl and rhythmic gymnastics martial arts? Men who turn into women and cute, baby animals? An old man who is regularly chased and beaten for stealing girls' underwear?
Would you beat a 100+ old man, even if he DID steal your underwear?
Yep. That's uber-serious material right there.
That's not to say that you can't explore serious aspects of the fandom, but I think that it still has to be examined within the context of what it is: pure, unadulterated CHAOS.
Because if you were to look at Ranma from a perspective that you would, say, look at something like 1984 or Evangelion, then EVERY character (with the notable exception of Kasumi, who is, incidentally, my least favourite character) becomes irredeemably self-centered, abusive and manipulative. Ranma included.
So my answer is definitely: Slapstick.