Have you ever been gaslit? The answer is without a doubt yes given the hard-to-pin-down nature of the term that has exploded in popularity. Leslie Jamison digs in at the New Yorker, beginning with the dictionary definition—the "psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories ..." But the term is tossed around so casually these days that its meaning gets diluted. Yes, extreme cases occur—and Jamison provides disturbing examples, including that of an abusive boyfriend who manipulates his inexperienced girlfriend into thinking something is wrong with her—"but to understand the phenomenon exclusively in light of these dire examples allows us to avoid the more uncomfortable notion that something similar takes place in many intimate relationships."
At this point, gaslighting runs the gamut "from extremely toxic to undeniably commonplace," writes Jamison, who provides the mind-bending example of a young man who complained on Reddit that his girlfriend accused him of gaslighting every time he expressed an opinion different from hers. "Has he been gaslit into thinking he's a gaslighter?" wonders Jamison. In the thought-provoking piece, Jamison talks to multiple people who share their gaslighting experiences as well as to psychoanalysts to explore what's going on. The corollary to that original question of "Have you ever been gaslit" might be, "Have you ever gaslit anyone?" Again, the answer is probably yes. "If the capacity to gaslight is more widely distributed than its most extreme iterations would lead us to believe, perhaps we've all done more of it than we care to admit," writes Jamison. Read the full story. (Or check out other longform recaps.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
