The Concept of Unlearning and Why it is Necessary
Hayley Pereira
Brock University
WGST 1F90
Dr. Janke
Kali Guise
Seminar #: 5
Saturday October 6th 2018
In a world full of learning, how do we teach society to unlearn? Why is unlearning necessary? I argue that it is necessary for the sheer need of removing negative stereotyping. To assess that it is unjust of our peers and ourselves to have such a strong and stubborn opinion on a topic that society themselves, knows so little about. Essentialism, Transdisciplinary, and Intersectionality. Three words that come to mind when discussing negative feminist stereotypes. Three words that strongly argue why these stereotypes exist, how they prolong the oppression felt by those discriminated against and maintain a system of inequality and privilege. So, you ask, what do these words have to do with unlearning? To remove the knowledge ingrained in our brains and revaluate its justness, is not a task that comes easily, but one that happens within every lifetime, to reveal a change for the better. At the peak of unlearning comes the introduction of transdisciplinary thinking. In other words, crossing the traditional disciplinary lines. Which in turn makes society very uncomfortable.
The majority of society finds security in traditional views and values. They are vulnerable to change, understandably so as it proves to be intimidating, however, change is necessary in order to improve and adjust to new and old societal values and morals. Halls’ (2018) describes a unique view to this concept,
“Stereotypes get hold of few ‘simple, vivid, memorable, easily grasped and widely recognized’ characteristics about a person, reduce everything about the person to those traits, exaggerate and simplify them, and fix them without change or development to eternity. […] stereotyping reduces, essentializes, naturalizes, and fixes ‘difference’.” (p. 263).
His view on stereotyping drives the argument that society is defensive and opposed to change. Furthermore, the idea of transdisciplinary thinking, as a movement of change is therefor an intimidating concept to society as a whole. Transdisciplinary actions are widely misunderstood, but if understood correctly, may also be the method that gains societal intrigue and changes popular views. The stereotypes of feminism are born out of lack of knowledge and the fear of change. A transdisciplinary approach to education of feminism’s true value and meaning, is of change but of positive change, in aspiration of the improvement of unjust practices and beliefs. It consists of taking the old and creating new. Improving upon our beliefs and values and growing as society. It focuses on new forms of knowing. Without proper understanding of this concept, there becomes more stereotypes, and increased uneducated opinions. Such as the belief of the inherent, biological difference between men and women, otherwise known as, essentialism.
One of the biggest criticisms on the topic of feminism is that it is, simply, a bunch of women, who hate, and aspire to be superior to men. Which also brings forward the belief that men cannot be feminists. But the purpose in the minds of feminist activists is not just on improving women’s lives, but the lives of the whole country, nation, or world. To lead society to a more just world, for all those who are discriminated upon. We are employing essentialism when we reduce people to their biology and therefor, deciding for them an unjust fate. Treating society and ranking their abilities or lack thereof, purely on their biological sex, creates stereotypical categories in which are considered ‘proper’ for each sex to engage in or act upon. When answering the infamous question of “What is feminism?” hooks (2018) responds, “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression”. hooks’ definition so clearly represents the view which society does not see when discussing the topic. Essentialism blinds society without their consent, and in turn creates a sensation of unawareness of the discriminatory world that surrounds them in their day-to-day lives. Not just that, but feminism is much more than just the difference between sexes. It is diverse and represents endless movements to reverse inequalities for all discriminated against. The negative stereotypes associated with feminism reinforce misogyny, homophobia, discrimination against race and countless others. The interconnected use of these discriminations on society is better known as Intersectionality.
Intersectionality is central to feminism and examining the oppression of its multiple categories (Janke, personal communication, 2018). One aspect of intersectionality is the international feminist frameworks (IFFS). The Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women [CRIAW] (2018) informs us that the goal of international feminist frameworks is to help those unaware, to understand the circumstances and discriminatory social practices that sustain inequality and exclusion. A system to teach the knowledge needed to understand the discrimination that slips through the cracks. Uneducated society paints feminism as a picture that describes a movement that desires once again, the superiority of women over men. With this picture promotes the idea that feminism touches not only so little of the overwhelming discriminatory practices within the world that feminism attempts to destroy, but it shows that society is also unaware overlapping of them as well. One of the strongest and most unrecognized examples of the need for the understanding of intersectionality is the overlapping of race and gender discrimination. The advocacy for women in the workplace and African American’s in the workplace is now extensive, but what about black women in the workplace? Once there is overlapping of discriminatory practices, the resulting inequality gets lost in the realization of unjust treatment. As we step down the ladder of privilege we are so celebratory of the new-found acceptance of those who were once outcasted, that we forget to recognize that every action has a reaction. Not recognizing the discrimination against black women, comes down to the distraction of both subcategories of their makeup being treated in equality when their discrimination in combination is not yet discovered as a whole.
With this in mind I ask again, why is unlearning, for negative stereotyping of feminism in particular, necessary? From the very beginning of our lives we are influenced by multiple parties. Those influences then shape our values, our opinions, and our views on the world and what is within it. With some of the information we learn, we run into obstacles that challenge our knowing and challenge what is considered just. Unlearning is necessary to dispel the negative stereotypes that work as an outlet from those challenges, and to instead educate, and use that unlearned knowledge and transform it with the adaptation of new concepts and ideas that better fit society and its outcomes. It is necessary for the better understanding and use of transdisciplinary thinking and actions in order to educate society. For the understanding that feminism is not only based on the reversal of essentialism, but of misogyny, homophobia, discrimination of race, gender, and countless others. Lastly, and arguably the most important aspect of its importance, unlearning is necessary for intersectionality and what it represents as a whole: The avoidance of important discriminatory practices slipping through the cracks of acknowledgment purely because they are more complex and diverse than more common practices. What all these statements have in common is, that unlearning is a key concept in the dismissal of negative stereotypes against feminism and without the willingness to unlearn, society will lack the ambition to educate themselves on the true intentions of feminist activists and how feminism is indeed, for everybody.
References
Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW). (2006) Intersectional Feminist Frameworks: A Primer. In Hobbs. M & Rice. C (Eds), Gender and Women’s Studies (65-69) Toronto: Women’s Press
Hall, S. (2002). Stereotyping As a Signifying Practice. In Hobbs. M & Rice. C (Eds), Gender and Women’s Studies (262-264) Toronto: Women’s Press
hooks, b. (2000) Excerpts from Feminism Is for Everybody. In Hobbs. M & Rice. C (Eds), Gender and Women’s Studies (16-19) Toronto: Women’s Press