1. Gee saying you can’t be taught and have to learn them early in life
   1. Gee talks about how you can not be taught the ways of a Discourse. He says that you must apprentice someone who is already in it to become a part. Gee also states that if you do not enter a desired Discourse at a young age, it is nearly impossible to later in life.
2. Gee’s first theorem
   1. Gee views entering a Discourse as very black and white. He says that you are either in one or you aren’t. He doesn’t believe that there are any chances given to those that are trying.
3. Mushfaking/faking it until you make it
   1. Gee then goes on to contradict himself when he introduces the idea of Mushfaking, this is taking what you have and using it to work towards another Discourse. Cuddy believes that you can fake it until you make it, which is essentially the same as mushfaking.

 

Both Gee and Cuddy’s claims cross paths while talking about alternate ways to join a Discourse. Gee proposes the idea of Mushfaking, which is making due with what you have. He states that, “mushfake Discourse is possible” (13) and “Mushfake discourse means partial acquisition coupled with meta-knowledge and strategies to ‘make do,’”  (13). Even though earlier in article Gee says that there is no way that you can enter a Discourse later in life, he offers this alternative way of potentially entering one. This relates to Cuddy’s belief of faking it until you make it. Cuddy believes that our bodies can change our minds, like our minds can change our bodies. She proposes the question, “can you fake it till you make it? Like, can you do this just for a little while and actually experience a behavioral outcome that makes you seem more powerful?” (6:46). She runs an experiment to prove this, and the test results came back that people’s hormones who fake feeling powerful, by power posing, actually show signs of them being more confident. These two ideas intertwine because mushfaking is basically faking it until you make it. You take what you have from previous experiences and use that to become something else.

 

Cuddy contradicts Gee when he says that you have to be fully fluent in order to be a part of the Discourse. Gee says that you can know the skills in the discourse, but if you lack the fluency of these, you are not a member. In his article he writes, “failing to fully display an identity is tantamount to announcing you don’t have that identity, that at best you’re a pretender or a beginner,” (10). Gee is too bold with this statement, his views on Discourses are very black and white. He can not accept the idea of someone being able to join a Discourse later in life.   In Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk, she contradicts Gee and focuses on the power of your body changing your mind and ‘faking it until you make it’. She emphasizes ‘power posing’ and how it can boost the testosterone and lower your cortisol, resulting in a more confident powerful self. Cuddy states, “So when you feel more powerful, you’re more likely to do this, but it’s also possible that when you pretend to be powerful, you are more likely to actually feel powerful” (7:13). She’s essentially saying, the more you fake that you feel powerful, the more confident you will be and you’ll eventually become what you are faking. I agree with Cuddy’s view because she has more of a grey area than Gee, who as I stated earlier, can not seem to see outside of his own perceived idea.

ENG110J