The problem with the phrase ‘battling cancer’
The language of cancer continues to divide us. Here is an interesting article on the origins of battling cancer from the BBC News website.
See on Scoop.it – Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer
Are military metaphors such as “battling” appropriate when it comes to cancer, asks Andrew Graystone.
See on www.bbc.co.uk
Who ever talks of a battle with heart disease? I fully agree with the article. It’s unhelpful language. It implies that by dint of self motivation cancer can be overcome.
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I really dislike it, and the word grueling, implying some how if you had just been tougher you would not have died…I did a blog about this once, such awful terms
http://afterfiveyears.com/2011/02/06/it-was-a-grueling-battle/
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I agree that the military terms are so not apropos. Being a cancer “warrior” is not how I see it. Cancer is baffling, for sure. But battling it? Not so much. Thanks for reblogging this. xo
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My personal language grrrr is with the concept of failure. Battle metaphors are fine with me, as are journey metaphors. But when someone says ‘they lost their battle with cancer’… for me, that is nails on a chalkboard. ~Catherine
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I agree with everything you all have said here..but I would also like to add that how an individual wishes to call themselves or their cancer experience, even if it is not a term I’d use, is still ok with me. What I object to is those with no experience who use lazy journalistic jargon to describe cancer.
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I am not battling, fighting, warring, or anything like that. I am merely a person coping with cancer. And I am NEVER a survivor. That’s j
ust a label
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