meme time

[wolfrose]

From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

Bold the true statements.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor (more than one)
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 (ballet, tap and jazz dance lessons and then clairenet)
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp (band camp haha)
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18 (private clairinet lessons)
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels (we went somewhere every year and we did a lot of weekend travels to dog shows)
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 (mostly from JC Penney and Mervyn's)
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child
23. You and your family lived in a single family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
25. You had your own room as a child
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
27. Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in High School
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (a couple of trips to Las Vegas and once to Oklahoma City)
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

Comments

[misslynx.livejournal.com]

It's definitely an interesting quiz - though as some people have pointed out, it has its flaws and inherent assumptions too. One friend of mine who grew up in a very poor rural area pointed out that the idea of a single-family home being a privilege is a very urban one - in rural areas, no matter how poor, that's the norm, and an apartment might seem like luxury by contrast, because then you'd be reasonably assured of having electricity and running water.

Not sure it would actually be possible to make a version that would be fully applicable to all situations and cultures... Still, definitely an interesting exercise. Which I haven't gotten around to doing yet.