this is a fun one. a summary of this argument, for those of you who don’t have the time to read all 3,400 words (which are one-part argument but also one-part history of how this framing of cancer came to be and stuck):
[…]hawkish words – talk of ‘battling’, as opposed to, say, ‘coping with’ cancer – have fallen out of favour among physicians, psychologists and patient advocates. As a practising oncologist I avoided that sort of language. War metaphors seemed inapt for describing research or cancer care. And I recognised this risk: if a treatment doesn’t work, if a tumour progresses, patients who have been led to believe that they’re supposed to put up a fight against cancer may blame themselves, mistakenly thinking that they lacked sufficient strength or will, when it’s the treatment that failed.
Many doctors have objected to the use of military words in the context of illness due to the potential psychological ramifications. A person’s lack of responsiveness to cancer treatment, a relapse or death could erroneously suggest that they didn’t try hard enough, that they were ‘weak’ and somehow responsible for succumbing to their illness. A patient’s loved ones may blame them, consciously or not, if they fare poorly after a cancer diagnosis. Patients may even blame themselves.
When you put it that way, yeah, the whole “fight” thing doesnt make sense. Like how would you even go about fighting it? Youre at the mercy of your doctor and the medical treatments they prescribe to you.
Thanks for the TLDR and it’s a very intriguing idea.
On one hand, “battling/fighting” cancer kind of gives a kind of strength to the patient that they can possibly overcome and survive the illness, while struggling, coping etc. would not.
On the other hand, the article is right that by using that term, many patients and people around them may implicitly pin the failure to fully treat cancer as a failure of the patient themselves.
The best thing I can come up with off the top of my head is “dealing with cancer”. Terms like coping with cancer imply a weakness. Dealing seems like a neutral middle-ground to portray the strength of the patient through the ordeal while recognizing that the situation isn’t all in the patient’s control.
I feel like we’ve seen a lot of violence twinged rhetoric slowly worm it’s way into the main stream. “So-so SLAMS, UTTERLY DESTROYS other so-so in new interview.”
As a cancer patient I was heavily opposed to the “fight” language as well. I just broke down and cried a lot after my diagnosis.
I didn’t cry until the Human Resources department at my work told me I’d be “terminated” from the job. Cried a lot then.
Luckily a friend told me I couldn’t be fired because a leave for cancer falls under the Americans with disabilities act, so I was able to make a fuss and continue buying my health insurance through my job (at an outrageous mark-up) while I was out getting treatment.
The fight against cancer is a fight against ableist systems of oppression like what you’re talking about here. I’m sorry for what you had to go through.
Thank you. I am missing significant chunks of a couple organs, but I’m doing groovy. It was quite a shock to see the system from “the other side.” And to see how the deck is stacked against anyone who can’t/won’t fit into a tidy economically-productive-for-the-company slot.
