Offensive Language: Straw, Stick, & Stone Houses

So I was having a conversation with a cis, straight, white man the other day and he was lamenting the fact that whenever he goes back to North America (from Taiwan) he has to deal with people being offended by what he says. His defense of saying things that are “offensive” (by other people’s standards, not his) is that if he dishes it, it means he’s allowing himself to take it, i.e. other people should say “offensive” things back at him.