I've been praised for my positive approach to having cancer. I also kept getting told I was "strong". Laurie Penny wrote about being called strong recently (in the context of receiving online abuse) and I couldn't help notice the parallels:
When the abuse leaves me broken and wondering how to go on, I am told how strong I am, usually by people who care and want to reassure themselves that there’s sense and meaning to what’s happening to me.
Having to manage the feelings of "people who care" about my having cancer was one of the more frustrating parts of the whole thing, and it usually came along with praise for being "so strong" and "so positive".
(I must pass the link to the Sara Douglass post to a fellow cancer survivor who has been very snappish on Facebook about "think positive" exhortations. As I told her, I thought the chemo had a lot more to do with my survival than my attitude.)
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Date: 2017-01-10 12:28 pm (UTC)When the abuse leaves me broken and wondering how to go on, I am told how strong I am, usually by people who care and want to reassure themselves that there’s sense and meaning to what’s happening to me.
Having to manage the feelings of "people who care" about my having cancer was one of the more frustrating parts of the whole thing, and it usually came along with praise for being "so strong" and "so positive".
(I must pass the link to the Sara Douglass post to a fellow cancer survivor who has been very snappish on Facebook about "think positive" exhortations. As I told her, I thought the chemo had a lot more to do with my survival than my attitude.)