ABSTRACT: Because the term "gaslighting" is in the relatively unusual etymological position of deriving from the title of a specific narrative source text ( Gaslight ), understanding the nuances of that narrative can help us understand the nuances of contemporary political gaslighting. One component of the Trump administration's gaslighting tactics that has yet to be read through the lens of the Gaslight plot is its manipulative deployment of the language of "protection," "rescue," and "care" to infantilize and actively harm its constituents, especially women. In this essay, I compare this deployment to the analogous protectionist gaslighting that takes place not only in Gaslight but also in the powerful, underexplored subgenre of films that arose in Gaslight 's immediate wake: gaslight noir.
Nora Gilbert (Sun,) studied this question.