I would not say that my wife and I really argue, we have disagreements...but we don't raise our voices or throw things. Generally we talk it out or give it some air until it is able to be discussed reasonably, but even those times are far between. My parents did not do that either - and my mother is definitely not "under his thumb" and my wife is not under mine.
Honestly, it is disrespectful to both parties to behave like that. There are better ways to handle conflict.