What is the Death Positive Movement?

If you’ve ever heard the phrase “death positive” and wondered what it meant or where it came from, here’s a bit of the history behind the movement.

While the words were first used in a Tweet in 2013, there were a number of factors that started changing the conversation around death since the 1970s, including the introduction of hospice care, the AIDS epidemic, and the establishment of Death Cafes, among other historical factors.

The First Tweet Using ‘Death Positive’

In 2011, Caitlin Doughty, a young funeral director, founded The Order of the Good Death and launched a popular web series called “Ask a Mortician.” A couple of years later, in 2013, in a social media post, Doughty used the term, asking why “there are a zillion websites and references to being sex positive and nothing about being sex positive.”

While Doughty is credited for being the first to use this phrase, the larger social movement has continued to evolve with thousands of death doulas being trained each year, death cafes taking place all over the world, and new methods of disposition becoming more available, like terramation (organic reduction or “human composting”) and water cremation.

Defining Death Positive

So what does “death positive” really mean? According to the website for the Order of the Good Death, “People who are death positive believe that it is not morbid or taboo to speak openly about death. They see honest conversations about death and dying as the cornerstone of a healthy society.”

What Death Positive Does Not Mean

In a video, Doughty explains that what death positive doesn’t mean is that “you’re real positive about death.” She says instead, the idea is, “Hey, we want to improve our culture. We want to have more eco-friendly death practices. We want to have better conversations around death. Nobody needs to hide that.”

The Order of the Good Death website also explains that death positive doesn’t mean “you’re thrilled and ‘positive’ after someone has died.” Instead, “Death positive means you should be given support during and after a death, including the ability to speak freely about your grief and experiences. It does not ask that we simply ‘accept death,’ but that we push back and engage with the systems and conditions that lead to ‘unacceptable’ deaths resulting from violence, lack of access to care, etc.”

Tenets, Myths, and Inspiration

The website also lays out nine tenets of the movement, as well as dispelling myths about it. They also explain that their work was inspired by the author Ernest Becker, who wrote "The Denial of Death" in 1973.

The growth of the death positive movement can be seen in the emergence of other gatherings aimed at the same goal of additional conversation about death and dying, like the annual End Well conference in California. It’s also contributed to the growth of more diverse options for final plans like green burial and terramation.

Opening Conversations About Death and Dying

The death positive movement has played a big role in changing the cultural norm of not talking about death. Other organizations like The Conversation Project also encourage open conversations so families can have more choice and control at the end of life. 

At Tulip, we are big supporters of planning and open and honest conversations. We have resources for starting conversations with your parents, creating a cremation plan, and holding a “living funeral.” 

To learn more about our affordable cremation services with no hidden fees, call (844) 942-4909 or arrange online via our website anytime.