Yashar Ali

This is Yashar Ali. He is one of my favorite writers. He writes about women, society, gender inequality and politics. I often feel that he is in my head. He seems so in tune with things I have experienced. 

One of his recent articles was on gaslighting. I had no idea what gaslighting was before I read his article. Here's his definition: A term, often used by mental health professionals, to describe manipulative behavior used to confuse people into thinking their reactions are so far off base that they’re crazy.

Here's more on what he says about gaslighting:

"The term comes from the 1944 MGM film, Gaslight, starring Ingrid Bergman. Bergman’s husband in the film, played by Charles Boyer, wants to get his hands on her jewelry. He realizes he can accomplish this by having her certified as insane and hauled off to a mental institution. To pull off this task, he intentionally sets the gaslights in their home to flicker off and on, and every time Bergman’s character reacts to it, he tells her she’s just seeing things. In this setting, a gaslighter is someone who presents false information to alter the victim’s perception of him or herself."

I bet everyone has experienced it. For example, have you ever been upset that someone is late, and had them tell you something like, "Relax. You are overreacting."? That is gaslighting, and it is going on all around us. Yashar describes many ways women experience it in his article from September 12, 2011 (Gaslighting Article). There are many more extreme ways that we all experience gaslighting. For example in workplace relationships, but then who can say which relationships are more important, personal or work? They both have such an affect on how we view ourselves and our lives.

I definitely recommend reading his article, and getting a taste of his writing. He states it much more eloquently than I. 

His other articles are wonderful too. I could go on and on about him. If I had the chance, I would marry him in a second!