A few months ago, I saw a headline from a Teen Vogue article titled “Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America”. The viral article was praised (and brought online harassment) — however I didn’t make time to read it. Therefore, I wasn’t too clear what the term “Gaslighting” meant.
Then today, I saw an op-ed from CNN titled “Donald Trump is ‘gaslighting’ all of us”, and I quickly remembered that Teen Vogue headline I saw a few months back.
This time, I read the article and lo and behold, I can see why the Teen Vogue article (shoutouts to the writer Lauren Duca) became viral. BECAUSE IT IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!
The CNN article I read did a great job describing the term “Gaslighting”, which is quoted below:
“The term comes from the 1930s play “Gas Light” and the 1940s Hollywood movie version (Gaslight) in which a manipulative husband tries to unmoor his wife, played by Ingrid Bergman, by tampering with her perception of reality. He dims the gaslights and then pretends it’s only she who thinks they are flickering as the rooms grow darker.”
“That’s only the beginning. He uses a variety of truth-blurring techniques. His goal is to exert power and control by creating doubts about what is real and what isn’t, distracting her as he attempts to steal precious jewels.”
“Mental health professionals have made much of the practice, said to be a favorite of narcissists and abusive spouses. But more recently the tactical tampering with the truth has become a preferred method of strongmen around the world.”
So you see, “Gaslighting” is the correct term to describe Mr. Trump, who I will now refer to as the “Gasligher-in-Chief”. We will also see many “gaslighting” instances in 2017 and beyond. This means many of us won’t know what is truly real of fake anymore — especially with internet trolls on social media overpowering the “sane & intelligent” mind.
In the end, always remember to always do your research on your own! Because an informed mind won’t fall victim to the the “Gaslighter-in-Chief” and his internet-trolls’ tactics.
Back in the day, like 1998 – 2001, I was gaslit by the City Attorney’s office of San Francisco (um, yeah, the supposedly righteous) and eventually, I gathered sufficient documents to prove every last word of both the lies and the psuedo-lies (I.e. alternative facts, anybody?) and even though most were marked “confidential”, I built a website (www.ramonamayon.com) and eventually turned that into a book on Amazon. THAT’s how you deal with gaslighting no matter which side of the aisle, or what house it’s coming out of. And by the way, the woman who destroyed my motherhood just got elected jr. senator from California, already being singled out as Presidential Timber. Over my dead body.
What are some techniques to avert, deal with, handle gas-lighting (on a grand scale) Like at a press conference? I think America needs a remedial course in how not to fall into gas-lighting rhetoric.
Great question.