In Clint Eastwood's 1992 film Unforgiven, is there meaning in the fact that Strawberry Alice is the only unarmed person who ever stands up to Little Bill?

I’m obsessed with this movie. It’s loaded with meaning everywhere you look. I just noticed, other than Will Munny with a shotgun in his hand, Alice is the only one who ever stands up to Little Bill.

Does her fearlessness—even while Bill was being physically rough with her—mean something in the story? It can’t just be a way of showing how tough she is: no one crosses Little Bill. They’re all afraid of him, but the author seems to go out of his way to show her, of all people, giving it back to him.