A female faces insults (8)
I believe the answer is:
affronts
'insults' is the definition.
('affront' can be a synonym of 'insult')
'a female faces' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (common abbreviation).
'faces' becomes 'fronts' (front is a kind of face).
'a'+'f'+'fronts'='AFFRONTS'
(Other definitions for affronts that I've seen before include "Snubs" , "insults or embarrassments" , "Insults, shows of disrespect" , "Public insults" , "Deliberate insults" .)