Week 9: Gaslighting Flashcards
What is misogyny?
Misogyny is a component of structural discrimination of women. The traditional view is “a feeling of hate or dislike towards women, or a feeling that women are not as good as men.” This sees misogyny as an explicit negative view against women, but this is only applicable with people holding these explicit biases.
What is sexism?
According to Manne
Sexism is “an ideology that says men are naturally better suited to male-dominated leadership positions in things like business and politics and academia, other masculine-coded domains, and that women are naturally better suited to caregiving roles, among other things.”
What is misogyny, according to Manne?
Misgogyny is “the law-enforcement branch of patriarchy, which polices and punishes girls and women who violate patriarchical norms and expectations.”
What is the difference between misogyny and sexism?
Misogyny is practical whereas sexism is ideological. One may not subscribe to sexist ideology while still participating in misogynistic practices.
E.g. “I dont think women are inferior to men, but I think women should not wear mini-skirts at night.
What is gaslighting?
- Disrupting someone’s epistemic faculties.
- Decreasing self-trust.
- Trapping one into relying on others for epistemic certainty.
a. One cannot trust oneself.
b. One looks at others around as a source of certainty - at times this might be the gaslighter.
A woman might get responses to trying to justify the assaultor.
What then happens to her, in philosophical terms?
These responses are an assessment of her abilities as a knower (‘you must be misremembering’ = you’re not getting your facts right). It’s also done to mimimize harm (‘he’s so nice’/’that was harmless’). The aim here is for the victim to re-evaluate their experience in a way that favours the perpetrator.
What are the two types of gaslighting?
Epistemic and manipulative gaslighting.
For both epistemic and manipulative gaslighting,
What are the distinguishing features for the wrong of gaslighting?
Epistemic: Diminished credibility.
Manipulative: Loss of self-confidence.
For both epistemic and manipulative gaslighting,
What are the distinguishing features of susceptibility to gaslighting?
Epistemic: Poor credibility due to social identity.
Manipulative: Poor credibility not due to social identity but from the wish to be shown as mistaken.
For both epistemic and manipulative gaslighting,
What are the distinguishing features of subject matter?
Epistemic: Testimony.
Manipulative: Testimony or behaviour.
For both epistemic and manipulative gaslighting,
What are the distinguishing features for role of power?
Epistemic: social power.
Manipulative: Leverage.
For both epistemic and manipulative gaslighting,
What are the distinguishing features for intention?
Epistemic: Always unintentional.
Manipulative: Always intentional & with an aim.
What is manipulative gaslighting?
- When a person manipulates another giving knowingly faulty reasons.
- To make them suppress their justifiable judgements.
- By denying their credibility through
a. sidestepping evidence.
b. displacement from facts to character.
How is gaslighting a feature of misogynystic societies?
Gaslighting “can be experienced by women who are not personally in gaslighting relationships, but who live in a culture in which the gaslighting of women is widely practiced.”
What are the ways of engaging with gaslighting in the context of misogyny?
Adhering to harmful social narratives,
Acting in accordance with the reighning ideology,
Participation in traditions,
etc.
People need not be explicitly misogynistic.
