On Gaslighting
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On Gaslighting

Kate Abramson
Princeton UP, 2024
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Eye Opening
  • Eloquent

Recommendation

“Gaslighting,” Merriam-Webster’s “word of the year” in 2022, is a term that gets bandied about when one person questions another’s credibility. However, gaslighting is a much more specific, nefarious behavior. With clarity, sensitivity, and academic rigor, philosopher Kate Abramson conducts a deep dive into its characteristics, motives, and psychological damage. She illustrates how gaslighters undermine their targets’ confidence and independence, and how gaslighting often reinforces oppressive ideologies such as sexism and racism. Abramson notes that most gaslighters are men, while their victims are most commonly women, and her use of pronouns throughout her book is representative of a textbook case. However, anyone can become the victim of a gaslighter. People who’ve experienced gaslighting — and those who support them — will appreciate the insight and validation Abramson’s account provides.

Summary

Gaslighting is a form of emotional manipulation that causes its victims to mistrust their own judgment.

The word “gaslight” has become ubiquitous over the past decade, but people tend to use the term too broadly, misunderstanding the true meaning of gaslighting. As a verb, “gaslight” means to discredit another’s processes of thought, perceptions, and judgment by means of emotional manipulation. Over time, the targets of gaslighting begin to doubt their own perceptions, reactions, memories, and beliefs.

Gaslighting interferes with victims’ ability to govern themselves. They gradually internalize the belief that they can’t properly perceive reality, make decisions, or form assessments of their own experiences. This self-distrust can lead victims to grant their perpetrators additional power, as they come to believe that they need their gaslighters to assist in treating and managing their condition.

If you’ve never been gaslit and struggle to understand what victims endure, the following exercise can help you to relate: Think of a major negative experience you’ve had, one that troubled you for at least a month. Then...

About the Author

Kate Abramson is an associate professor of philosophy at Indiana University Bloomington. Her research interests include contemporary ethics and philosophical feminism.

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