has a master’s degree in contemporary philosophy from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. He writes for Philonomist.
Photo © Mariette Thom
IN SHORT
“Gaslighting” is a long-term manipulation technique which leads the victim to doubt their own experiences and feelings, to the point where they lose all self-esteem.
WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
To know where the term comes from, we need to go back to 1938, the year Patrick Hamilton’s play Gas Light came out. Adapted to film a few years later, it tells the story of a man who manipulates his wife in order to get his hands on her jewellery. When he searches the attic, repeatedly causing the lights to go dim downstairs, he convinces her that she’s imagining things, until she ends up doubting her own senses and losing her mind.
Initially used to designate a manipulative relationship between a husband and wife, the term was later adopted by American psychologists and feminists. Apart from the historical and systematic nature of women’s oppression which it points to, the term also describes a particularly long-lasting form of manipulation: if one can’t be tricked twice, as they say, one can still be tricked once, for a very long time. Until they lose their mind.
EXAMPLE?
“You don’t remember? We spoke about it in t…
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