By Cheri Dermott and Sumayyah Mussa

Manchester Metropolitan University’s 16-Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Festival continued with an engaging discussion and reading featuring award-winning poet and researcher Helen Mort and Reader in Pragmatics and Communication Dr Derek Bousfield.

The pair delved into a linguistic breakdown of the insidious nature of gaslighting, as well as exploring the emotional impact of gaslighting through the lens of creative expression.

Bousfield opened the event by exploring elements and the significance of studying gaslighting, focusing on why it is important to analyse gaslighting from academic, legal and professional perspectives.

“[Gaslighting refers to] the use of behaviours, primarily but not exclusively language, in which somebody wraps and creates a new toxic reality around their intended victim,” Bousfield explained. “It’s the persistent use of language to change or distort a perception of reality for the victim, where it is detrimental to the victim.”

Bousfield highlighted that gaslighting has been recognised as a criminal offence in England and Wales under section 76 since 2015, carrying a sentence of up to five years. He said: “There are sadly two million complaints annually in England and Wales about domestic abuse of violence, and only 24 people were convicted to prison for this.”

Bousfield focused on how gaslighting can be portrayed in the media and TV shows. This included Disney’s portrayal of “a sense of gaslighting” in the movie Tangled, where mother Gothel manipulates Rapunzel through the song ‘Mother knows best.’ He said: “It demonstrates, in a child-friendly way, that this kind of manipulative behaviour can exist.”

Bousfield then delved into notorious instances of gaslighting behaviour on the reality TV show Love Island, which saw audiences and participants raise concerns during the 2018 season. With a linguistic breakdown of on-screen conversations, Bousfield dissected discussions between cast members, revealing to the audience how words can be used to manipulate and gaslight victims.

Reflecting on the ways we can challenge gaslight and empower victims, Bousfield said: “Creative practice – through poetry, and other creative representation – can provide a route to agency and reclaiming what was lost.”

The second half of the event was led by five-time winner of the Foyle Young Poets award poet, Helen Mort. Mort introduced raw and evocative excerpts from her work, starting with a reading of ‘Stagedoor’ capturing the fleeting moments of life, followed by ‘The Words,’ imbuing the audiences with a profound sense of emotion and fragility.

Mort’s poetry showcased vivid imagery and emotional depth as she went onto read ‘Don’t Be So Sensitive’ and shared her own creative process. “I was thinking about all the different literary forms and thinking that of novels, short stories, drama, and all kinds of things like that, poems are probably best place to gaslight us the readers with their rhetorical and linguistic complexity,” she said.

Mort added: “I think that makes them uniquely powerful and as a means of redress and a means of resistance if used against language and action which seeks to coercively control.

Mort took the linguistic devices and language resources introduced by Bousfield, which are often deployed in gaslighting, and applied them to one of her favorite poems by Robert Hayden.

Mort then went on to discuss her courageous confrontation of becoming a target of deepfake pornography and the devastating impact it had on her life. Mort’s personal experience in dealing with the invasive act ignited a passionate pursuit to raise awareness and advocate for change.

Using creative mediums to express the toll of revenge porn, Mort produced a short film, My Blonde GF, which offers a candid and insightful lens on the challenges she encountered, shedding light on the insidious effects of digital gender-based violence while also highlighting the need for societal support.

An engaging Q&A followed, with one audience member asking Mort how she goes about taking back her power or control after experiencing something like this. Mort responded: “A poem was the key to feeling like I had some control… Language is powerful – that’s why it can be used to gaslight.”

The event closed with Bousfield announcing an upcoming project to compose an edited collection of survivors’ narratives and poems. He said: “We’re also hoping to develop a series of training packages for police for how they deal with, at first instance, with those who have identified that they are victims of domestic abuse and very coercive and controlling behaviour, and also to help magistrates understand what they are.”

He added: “I think what we’re most keen to ensure is going to work is to work with survivors themselves so that they have an opportunity to gain an understanding of what they’ve been through and gain some kind of therapeutic practise through the kind of creative, therapeutic approach to creative writing.”

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Festival runs from 25th November to 10th December, 2024. For more information and tickets, visit mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events