I\u2019m always highly attuned to language\u2014its nuances, implications, and effects\u2014so much so that my partner is ready (if not always eager) on at least a weekly basis to hear the latest term or phrase that I find problematic.\u00a0 So here\u2019s the latest:\u00a0 I\u2019m troubled by the metaphors of battles, wars, fighting that often get linked to people with diseases or disabilities.<\/p>\n
Two nights ago I was watching Extreme Home Makeover<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 As a side note, let me warn you never to watch this show unless you just want to sit in front of your tv weeping while simultaneously being vaguely embarrassed at yourself for doing exactly what the show\u2019s makers want you to do.\u00a0 That pretty much describes my evening.<\/p>\n There are many, many problems with this show that other bloggers should feel free to launch into, but one of the things that struck me was the battle metaphors.\u00a0 The father of the family whose home was being remodeled has ALS, a progressive neurodegenrative disease.\u00a0 He seems like a genuinely wonderful person, with a great attitude and a passion for his family and his career.\u00a0 Everyone who helped with the project of rebuilding this family\u2019s house seemed moved by this guy, and repeatedly throughout the episode folks recognized him and honored him for, among other things, his \u201cbattle against ALS.\u201d<\/p>\n This is, of course, a pervasive way of framing people with diseases of all kinds.\u00a0 The ALS Association<\/a>\u2019s big statement at the top of every page on their website is \u201cFighting on Every Front to Improve Living with ALS.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 There are a number of websites devoted to fighting cancer, fighting HIV, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, etc.\u00a0 The fight metaphor is often how individuals with these diseases discuss their own lives and priorities.\u00a0 And yet, it gives me a small, uncomfortable twinge.<\/p>\n I\u2019d be politically troubled or offended if someone had referred to the little boy in the Extreme Home Makeover<\/em> family as \u201cbattling\u201d his life in a wheelchair, or if people suggested that my daughter was \u201cstruggling against\u201d Down syndrome.\u00a0 Down syndrome and paralysis aren\u2019t war zones, they\u2019re simply parts of the lives of some people.\u00a0 And yet diseases seem to be different, certainly to many who are living with them.\u00a0 While Down syndrome has been part of Maybelle’s life since the instant she was conceived, ALS comes along later in life, and the fighting metaphor seems empowering and functional for many people.<\/p>\n But I\u2019m not one of those people.\u00a0 I think that much of why this bothers me is personal.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that I\u2019m opposed to fighting.\u00a0 I\u2019m an activist:\u00a0 I welcome a fight.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy to aggressively challenge many things in this world that need to be shaken up.\u00a0 And yet, as a person with a brain tumor, I don\u2019t want my health condition framed in terms of a battle.\u00a0 I am not someone who\u2019s \u201cbattling\u201d a brain tumor.\u00a0 Some scholars<\/a> have examined this concept and have identified several ways that the metaphor is problematic\u2014not only because it\u2019s \u201cinherently masculine, power-based, paternalistic, and violent\u201d but because it frames the patient as the one who has to fight fight fight<\/em> in order to win the war, and if they don\u2019t win, then they didn\u2019t fight hard enough.<\/p>\n I have a brain tumor, and there are things I need to do to take care of myself, but no level of armored-up embattlement is going to make it go away.\u00a0 I don\u2019t love it, but it\u2019s part of my body.\u00a0 As the scholars note, \u201cThere are conceptual weaknesses in the metaphor. There are no actual enemy invaders; the enemy is self\u2026and the battlefield is the patient’s very body.\u201d\u00a0 I feel that I\u2019d like a rhetorical framing of my condition that allows me a little more coherence and peace.<\/p>\n Fortunately, I\u2019m very happy with my house, so there will be no need for the Extreme Home Makeover <\/em>folks to come over here and cheer for my fighting spirit in order to make themselves feel better.<\/p>\n Editor’s note:\u00a0 I promise that my next Girl w\/Pen post will be about something other than my brain tumor!\u00a0 You all have been very supportive, but I think it’s time for some variety.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m always highly attuned to language\u2014its nuances, implications, and effects\u2014so much so that my partner is ready (if not always eager) on at least a weekly basis to hear the latest term or phrase that I find problematic.\u00a0 So here\u2019s the latest:\u00a0 I\u2019m troubled by the metaphors of battles, wars, fighting that often get linked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1919,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21097],"tags":[851,345,129,5007],"class_list":["post-1886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-body-language","tag-body","tag-disability","tag-media","tag-pop-culture"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1919"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}