Sunday, June 24, 2012

3555 Gaslight abuse

Sunday, June 24, 2012

If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed
and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.
-- Malcom X --

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The movie Gaslight (1944) was mentioned today.  I'd never seen it, so I looked it up and the reviews  made me want to see it.  I found the entire movie several places online, but always in Spanish, with no closed captioning.  Duh?  So I ordered it from Amazon.

Searching for "gaslight" turned up several references to "gaslighting" as pertains to domestic/relationship abuse.  I'd never hear the term in that context before.  That exploration led me to http://www.abuseandrelationships.org/index.html, a very interesting site.

When we think of abuse in a relationship, we tend to think of battering, or the threat of violence, or coercion.  But there are other much more subtle forms of abuse.

I read all of the section "The 'Con'".  It was eye-opening.  I didn't realize that some of the relationships I've been in were abusive.  But now that I think about it, yeah.  I recognize it. 

Not only that, but in at least one relationship, *I* was abusive.  Once I wanted out, I was derisive, showed a lack of respect, and purposely undermined his confidence.   This is abuse.

I intend to read all of the rest of that website.
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3 comments:

the queen said...

Boy, my boss uses all the techiniques under Subtle Forms.

~~Silk said...

Expert manipulators are often bosses. That's how they got there.

Becs said...

I'm sorry to say that I recognize myself in some of these. I also see my mother and ex-husband in even more.

Why can't the world be kinder and less complicated?

Oh. Because that would be spoiling some jerkwad's fun.