Preyoshee Tabassum (pseudonym), a third-year BBA student from BRAC University, was hesitant to speak up about sexual harassment up until the #MeToo movement. Seeing women speaking up and exposing people on the Internet who harassed them at any point in their lives, she got the courage to share her story. In the process, she learnt to speak up and unlearn the act of suppressing her thoughts.
Unlearning is the art of discarding some prevailing sets of beliefs, behaviour, attitude, perspective etc. which contradict our current knowledge about society. "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn," this comment by Alvin Toffler, an American futurist and philosopher, describes unlearning properly.
Up until a few years back, the greatest dilemma youths used to face was whether to become a doctor or an engineer. Apparently, no other profession was 'respectable' enough. Abdullah Mahir Masud, a fourth-year student of Economics at Dhaka University, believes that both the students and parents of this generation have now started to unlearn this idea and are learning to attach due importance to every subject and field.
"I had been a student of science for all my educational life until I followed my passion by unlearning and disregarding some disruptive trends existing in our system and chose Economics for graduation. And my family welcomed this decision."
One of the most outrageous beliefs of this era is that-- attire is responsible for women being raped or assaulted. However, students have become vocal against this outlook. They are telling the perpetrators through slogans- "The rapist is you," and making a statement. Sharbani Datta, a third-year student of DU Journalism, shared, "Why do I have to be concerned about my 'orna' (scarf) when I simply go out? We are taught that girls have to hide their skin to protect themselves from being noticed by men. And at some point, we started to accept it." But the students are now unlearning this absurd social value.
Shadman Ishrak, a fresh A level graduate, shared his observation regarding the gender issue and treating it rigidly. Men are not allowed to be feminine and women are not allowed to be masculine. The ideal man would have to have perfect body hair and refrain from expressing emotions, and women-- soft and calm. Shadman started to pay less attention to social stereotypes as he grew older and began realising that being a feminine man was perfectly okay. Thus, he embraced his true self openly and started exploring other stereotypes. He kept pushing his boundaries although he kept getting criticism.
We all have been implanted with so many wrong beliefs and norms in our heads that it takes a lot of sacrifices for the whole nation to unlearn them. Ahnaf Hasan Dhrubo, a fourth year engineering student from MIST, is baffled to see his parents are proud of Shakib Al Hasan. Although his parents always discouraged him about sports, he is happy to see changes in them now.
"It's good to see many of my school friends standing against racism, normalising all body types and colours as beautiful with strong voices now. It surely didn't feel good to be called with a prefix- 'kala' in front of the nickname during the school days," he shared. It certainly was not easy for him as a teen being body-shamed all. But it makes him happy to see changes in their outlook.
Talking about mental health has always remained taboo. Just decades ago, having the slightest mental issue was considered being 'abnormal.' But youths today have started to open up about it. They are unlearning the social stigma of ignoring mental health concerns and learning to normalise them. Samiha Chowdhury, an SSC examinee from Willes Little Flower School and College, has suffered from mild anxiety. She proudly shared her experience with the writer regarding how her family had unlearned the traditional beliefs.
"I was lucky to have such a great family who acknowledged my issues and supported me by getting me professional help. I was scared that they might just gaslight me by saying 'It's because of your phone' or 'You are illusioned.'" One of the bright sides of unlearning by the youth is that the elderlies are also being enlightened through their children.
The youth today are more aware, awakened, enlightened, and humane towards all social issues. And unlearning plays a massive role in this. As their favourite Jedi Master, Yoda from the Star Wars Universe, once said, "You must unlearn what you have learned,"-- perhaps, for the greater good.
The writer is a third year student of Mass Communication and Journalism at Dhaka University.
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