Gaslighting

About

Gaslighting or Gaslight is an internet slang term that means false information is purposefully being provided to one person, or group of people, in order to warp their own memory, perception and sanity. The term originates from a play called Gas Light, originally written and performed in 1938. "Gaslighting" became a prominent reference in online discourse starting, most notably, in 2016 after an article was written about fake news and former U.S. President Donald Trump's Twitter presence. It resurged in usage again in 2020 and 2021 amid the Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss trend, which associated the term with men and women who gaslight each other based on their looks, personalities and desire for clout.

Tap here for a quick explainer on this meme and how to use it.

Origin

In 1938, British novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton wrote the thriller play Gas Light: a story about a marriage based on deceit and trickery when the husband committed to driving his wife insane in order to steal from her.^[1] The main lie he reiterates to his wife is by insisting that the gaslights in their house do not flicker, when in fact they do.^[2] In 1944, an American movie adaptation was made and directed by George Cukor (official trailer from YouTube shown below).

According to Ben Yagoda, a writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education,^[2] the verb "gaslight" was never used in the original play and only manifested as a term in the 1960s. The word "gaslight's" first citation according to the Oxford English Dictionary is a 1965 article in the magazine The Reporter.^[2] the quote reads, “Some troubled persons having even gone so far as to charge malicious intent and premeditated ‘gaslighting.’” Additionally, Yagoda noted in his article, written on January 12th, 2017, that the verb was being used in an episode of I Love Lucy^[3] from 1965.

Spread

By the 1990s, the term became associated with domestic abuse language.^[2] It continued to be used in discourse going into the 2000s. On May 31st, 2009, the term "gaslighting" was added to Urban Dictionary ^[4] by the user Your Reality Check. Over the course of 12 years, the video received roughly 6,600 likes (shown below).

On December 10th, 2016, Teen Vogue^[5] published an article titled, "Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America," which made the term more mainstream. It centered on statements made by former President Trump in which he'd later backtrack on when criticized, stating instead that he never said them.

The article circulated on platforms like Twitter going the rest of December 2016 and into January 2017. For instance, on December 11th, 2016, Twitter^[6] user KristineWyllys posted a quote retweet that namedropped both "gaslighting" and Teen Vogue, earning roughly 8,500 likes in six years (shown below, left). On December 26th, 2016, Twitter^[7] user bannerite reposted an infographic that earned over 20 likes. The infographic was originally posted on June 3rd, 2015, by the Tumblr ^[8] blog robochai, which earned roughly 144,400 notes in seven years (shown below, center and right).

Towards the end of 2017, the term was being used in tweets receiving upwards of 100,000 likes. For instance, on December 11th, 2017, Twitter^[9] user SalemsSappho posted a tweet that earned roughly 334,800 likes in five years (shown below).

From 2017 to 2020, the term continued to be used online, reaching another peak in June 2020. This was, most notably, caused by the tension worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic as well as nationally, in America, amid the Police Brutality protest regarding the Death of George Floyd.

On June 2nd, 2020, a statement was released by Donald Trump's campaign regarding tear gas that had been used on protestors in Lafayette Park in Washington D.C.^[10] Also on June 2nd, Twitter^[11] user abbydphillip posted a quote retweet of the statement, insisting, "This is next level gaslighting." Over the course of two years, the tweet received roughly 16,400 likes (shown below, top). Her tweet inspired others to use the term amid the June 2020 protests. For instance, Keke Palmer used the term in conversation on The Breakfast Club podcast, being reposted to Twitter^[12] on June 15th, 2020 by user TheGreatIsNate. Over the course of two years, the video received roughly 3.4 million views and 124,800 likes (shown below, bottom).

Today’s conversation about the silencing of black women’s voices is perfectly illustrated in this Breakfast Club interview clip featuring Keke Palmer.

And it all began with DJ Envy gaslighting her sexual intimidation experience with: “wAs iT a mISunDeRStanDiNg?” pic.twitter.com/rLgpOiEXhg

— et, naw! 🥴 (@TheGreatIsNate) June 15, 2020

Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss / 2021 Resurgence

Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss is a parody of the phrase "Live, Laugh, Love" used in a variety of shitposts, that began on Tumblr in January 2021. The phrase is used to mock the stereotypical sentiments of the typical "empowered feminist," with each term holding a negative connotation in reference to female empowerment.

On January 12th, 2021, Tumblr^[13] user missnumber1111 posted, "today’s agenda: gaslight gatekeep and most importantly girlboss," garnering over 43,500 notes in a month (shown below). On that day, Twitter^[14] user CUPlDL0VE posted, "my agenda is gaslight gatekeep and #girlboss," the first instance of the phrase on Twitter.

On January 13th, Tumblr^[15] user a-m-e-t-h-y-s-t-r-o-s-e reblogged the post along with a photoshopped image of "Live, Laugh, Love" wall art instead reading, "Gaslight every moment, Gatekeep every day, Girlboss beyond words" (shown below). On January 18th, the image was reposted to Twitter^[4] for the first time.

Inspired by this new spin on the term outside of social justice and politics, "gaslighting" as a concept received usage in memes teetering on irony. For instance, on January 4th, 2021, Instagram^[16] page lightapoloqist posted a meme about gaslighting, earning roughly 66,300 likes in 14 months (shown below, left). On March 8th, 2021, Twitter^[17] user f8the tweeted, "U can’t gaslight me bc im okay wit being the villain," which earned roughly 209,000 likes in 14 months (shown below, right).

Memes and tweets about gaslighting continued to surface across platforms going into the rest of 2021 and into early 2022. Gaslighting memes appeared on TikTok and Facebook where the term cemented itself further in meme discourse.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References