Affective Gaslighting and Rape Culture: Compounding the Violence of Sexual Assault

ABSTRACT

In this essay, Oliver argues that current theories of gaslighting in feminist epistemology do not adequately consider the affective dimension of gaslighting. Oliver argues that we cannot adequately explain gaslighting without an affective supplement that considers the psychic dimensions of gaslighting. In the end, Oliver discusses rape culture as a case study to further demonstrate the importance of considering the affective and psychic dimensions of gaslighting. She concludes by sketching some of the ways in which rape culture is a prime example of what she calls “affective gaslighting.”

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No potential conflicts of interest are reported by the authors(s).

Notes

¹ For an insightful discussion of racial gaslighting, see Davis and Ernst (2017). See also my The Colonization of Psychic Space for a discussion of some of the ways in which racism affects self-confidence and colonizes psychic space (Oliver, 2004).

² In July 2018, then President Trump nominated Brent Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court. His confirmation hearing took place in September. He was eventually confirmed by the senate on October 6 by a vote of 50–48. For a discussion of the testimony see Amy Howe’s report on the SCOTUS blog, December 2019, at https://www.scotusblog.com/2019/12/decade-in-review-justice-brett-kavanaughs-confirmation-hearing.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kelly Oliver

Kelly Oliver, Ph.D., recently retired from Vanderbilt University, where she was Distinguished Professor of Philosophy. She is the author of 16 scholarly books, including Response Ethics (Rowman & Littlefield), Carceral Humanitarianism (Minnesota University Press), Earth and World, Philosophy after the Apollo Missions (Columbia University Press), and Animal Lessons, How They Teach Us to Be Human (Columbia University Presss); the editor of another 13 books, including her most recent co-edited volume Gaslighting (forthcoming); and the author of more than 100 scholarly articles on a variety of topics, including refugee detention, capital punishment, animal ethics, sexual violence, images of women and war, psychoanalysis, and film. Her work has been translated into eight languages. She has been interviewed on ABC News, appeared on CSPAN Books, and published in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, among other appearances and publications in popular media. Kelly is also the bestselling author of three award-winning mystery series: the Jessica James Mysteries (contemporary suspense), the Fiona Figg Mysteries (historical cozy), and the Pet Detective Mysteries (middle grade).