http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yashar-hedayat/a-message-to-women-from-a_1_b_958859.html
I dated a man who did this for a year and a half and in May I finally dumped him. Why did I stay with someone for so long when he made me feel horrible about myself and was so clearly wrong for me? Because I was convinced that it was all me; that he wasn’t that bad and I simply wasn’t being patient or understanding enough. He’d tell me everything that was “wrong” with me when in truth, he was just a sociopathic asshole and after a year and a half of this I hated him as well as myself. Never again. Here’s an excerpt from the article but I suggest that all of you, especially those of you who are male, read it:
And the act of gaslighting does not simply affect women who are not quite sure of themselves. Even vocal, confident, assertive women are vulnerable to gaslighting. Why? Because women bare the brunt of our neurosis. It is much easier for us to place our emotional burdens on the shoulders of our wives, our female friends, our girlfriends, our female employees, our female colleagues, than for us to impose them on the shoulders of men. It’s a whole lot easier to emotionally manipulate someone who has been conditioned by our society to accept it. We continue to burden women because they don’t refuse our burdens as easily. It’s the ultimate cowardice.
