Hollywood's Gaslight and the Gendered Dynamics of Gaslighting

ABSTRACT: The 1944 film Gaslight , from which contemporary use of the term "gaslighting" originates, provides key insights into the gendered dynamics of gaslighting. A gothic melodrama set in Victorian London, the film depicts a young bride terrorized by her new husband, increasingly unable to trust her own perception and pushed to the brink of psychosis. Watching the film, viewers experience a perceptual uncertainty similar to that endured by the gaslit heroine. Gaslight shows us how patriarchal norms enable gaslighting and how gaslighting is embedded within a broader culture of gendered violence.