Outrage (emotion)

Outrage is a strong moral emotion characterized by a combination of surprise, disgust,[1] and anger,[2] usually in reaction to a grave personal offense.

[3] It comes from old French "ultrage", which in turn borrows from classical Latin "ultra", meaning "beyond".

The 21st century and its social media have seen an increased display of false or manufactured outrage, with power and prestige being hypocritically sought by professing concern for others, in a highly selective and temporary manner.

[6] In The Sociology of Everyday Life Peacebuilding, John D. Brewer, et al., observed:[6] 'Canonized' and 'preferred victims' generate considerable outrage when their memory is besmirched but the same politicians and spokespeople who express this outrage are content enough to besmirch the memory of dis-preferred victims.

And as public insult and degradation descend to the bottom in competitive faux outrage in the public sphere, victims find themselves used for party political purposes, voiceless and ignored save when it suits those who exploit their suffering and pain.The authors, whose work focuses primarily on post-conflict peace and resolution, propose a paradox: Individual "preferred victims" lack much if any agency to control how perception of them is manipulated in the public sphere, and can thus feel "owned" by this process and those who are deeply involved in it.