Outrage, Offense, Insult, and Disagreement

It seems to me as though people of the present time are extremely good at getting outraged.  I'm not saying that there aren't things to be outraged about, the idea that my country tortures people is one, but I'm saying that people are really good at finding things to be outraged about and then really going for it.

Here are a couple of examples from the world of sport.  The first is the outrage that came as a response to a cyclist, Peter Sagan, pinching the bottom of one of the "hostesses/models/podium girls who are traditionally present at the presentation of the winner's trophy (at least in men's races). 

The second is just from today's news in which the golfer Sergio Garcia, who does not get along with somewhat black golfer Tiger Woods, said,“We will have him ’round every night. We’ll serve fried chicken.”

 Outrage ensued in both of these cases.  The bottom pinch was equated with sexual assault and the "rape culture."  The "fried chicken" comment was taken to be racist.  In both cases the perpetrator apologized profusely.

Now, I understand where the outrage is coming from, sexual assault and racist insults are awful.  You can't go around grabbing women, and you can't use race to insult people, but is that actually what happened?

The models (actually usually called podium girls) on the podium are there for a purpose.  That purpose is the same purpose as the rest of the ceremony, the receiving of flowers, a trophy, and cash.  to the victor go the spoils and the models represent sexual rewards for the strongest man. If you want there to be something unpleasantly sexist, that treats women as sexual objects rather than real people, the ceremony has plenty of that already. His pinching of a bottom doesn't change the whole tenor of the situation.  I would categorize his actions as naughty, a bit impolite, shouldn't do it repeatedly, should be forgotten by tomorrow.  The best response was from a female pro-cyclist, and for me the main problem about the whole thing is that male races have podium girls but female races don't have podium boys, neither or both people.

As for fried chicken, does anyone really think Sergio Garcia (a Spaniard) was subtly inserting a racist slur familiar largely to Americans who bizarrely connect black people with fried chicken?  Or perhaps he simply said the first thing to eat that came into his head?  My position is that he probably made a mistake, possibly a mistake that he could only have realized afterwards.  I think Tiger Woods' position, "The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate" to be silly.

That's a long time to spend on those two situations, but then that's kind of the point.  Serious outrage, international news over a bit of naughtiness and a poor dinner suggestion.  This stuff is everywhere.  Outrage that makers of GMO food don't want to have to label their food as GMO even though it has been determined to be equivalent (i.e. same ingredients) to non-GMO by the government. Atheists insulted by religious people thinking that without religion there are no morals.  Offended that you aren't impressed by the political views of a particular geographical region.

Has it always been this way?  Has it simply been that before the internet information was so homogenous that all the the things people might be offended about where happening elsewhere?  Are people actively seeking things to get upset about, training themselves to be constantly outraged?  A good half of my facebook are links to pages devoted to being outraged about things.  Is it constant cable news, short attention spans, the certainty of ones own correctness, the assumption of the equivalency of views, that are all creating an outrage background?

For me, people say and do stupid things all of the time.  This week I will say something naughty.  I will also say something jokingly that could be construed as deeply racist/sexist/evil if you wanted to.  This week people will say stupid things that if I took personally would be truly insulting (in the most important cultural work in the USA, the Bible, it says that I deserve to be tortured forever because I am as immoral as it is possible to be, i.e. an Atheist).  Someone who doesn't know what they are talking about will say that I don't know what I am talking about.  I just don't have the energy or inclination to get that upset, that much.