What Is Gaslighting? Meaning And Examples

It's not just intimate relationships where gender plays a role in gaslighting. Other examples of gender gaslighting include:

Gas lamp in medicine. Some women are intimidated by their doctors, who may be irrational or naïve in ignoring legitimate health symptoms and problems and convincing patients that there is nothing wrong.

Public or municipal gas lighting. Many women are experiencing the effects of public gaslighting, as well as mass gaslighting, when statements by public figures or ordinary people, widely shared on social media, lead women to think as a group.

In her article "Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Psychological Oppression," Cynthia A. Stark, Ph.D., shares the example of two high school football players molesting an unconscious 16-year-old girl at a party, and then described a CNN reporter as "two promising star-studded young men." Ball players, top students, literally see what they think their lives are."

Stark writes, "This kind of public exposure . . . can produce a certain state of mind in women that makes them unable to fully accept what men find wrong or dangerous." "They struggle with the ambivalence of believing 'in their hearts.' that the woman in question has been wronged, but believing that she can make a bigger deal out of nothing, or that men should be allowed to make mistakes.”

Transgender stepping on the gas. Gaslighters may try to convince you that a transgender person has a mental disorder. Using very subtle gaslighting, a parent can tell their transgender daughter to wear pants because they feel more comfortable when playing, leading the child to question their desire to wear a dress or skirt.

Often, transgender children's gaslighting behavior comes from parents who claim to be supportive of their child, making gaslighting difficult to identify.

Gas lighting in the legal system. Police officers, judges or juries may unknowingly be involved in gender gaslighting. "When criminals dominate narratives and events and achieve 'inversion,' the legal system becomes a critical space for gaslighting and portraying feminist stereotypes as irrational and violent toward black women," writes Sweet. “In this way, institutional officials sometimes become unwitting accomplices in gaslighting programs that expose women to further violence and lose credibility.” This is often expressed in child protection and sexual abuse cases.

5 gaslighting phrases rude people use to control you