(no subject)

[lotusbiosm]

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 Indiana State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

Bold applies to me, my comments in italics

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 my mother teaches at the local community college, but I'm not sure if that counts
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers my parents were high school teachers in neighboring districts, so I think this is a safe assumption
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home I feel safe assuming that there were about that many
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 piano lessons, dance classes, saxaphone lessons, viola lessons, acting class, taekwondo class. Some private, some class
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 I think technically a trust paid for my college, but it wasn't a family trust. I got a full scholarship (tuition, room and board) for undergrad, paid for by the widow of a rich alum
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18 I did tutoring in high school though
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 As far as I know. My baby clothes may have been hand-me-downs, and I did sometimes steal clothes from my Mom, but the majority of my clothes were new
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them My parents bought a new car and gave me the old one
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child Not by anyone famous, but one of my Great-Grandmothers worked in a gallery, so we had art given to us by her
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. I'm an only child, the only people for me to share with would have been my parents. But we did have four bedrooms and three people
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
28. Had your own TV in your room in High School but I didn't have cable. I had a computer in my room too for a while, before we moved it across the hall to the guest-room-turned-office
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
31. Went on a cruise with your family To the Bahamas when I was 5, with a bunch of my Dad's coworkers, if I remember correctly
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up. And the theater and concerts
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.

I found this really interesting because while I'm aware that I have white privilege, and class privilege, there were a number of these things that I never would have thought of, or that I wouldn't have thought of as being related to class privilege. I also know that my parents did a lot of things with me that might not have happened if I had siblings. When you only have one kid, why not just buy an extra ticket to the show? When you have three, a baby sitter is the obvious choice.

Comments

[hatgrlstargazer.livejournal.com]

Oh hey, I just did this meme, and then I discover you've done it too! Neat. It's interesting, while all these things can be "privilege" things, I think in some instances they can be more "priorities" things. I think if my parents had been dirt poor and both working two jobs, they *still* would have read to me. I know I'd move mountains to take my future children to the library if I have to. And I've known families who went without significant other things so that they could manage their annual trip to disney world. People prioritize these things differently. I don't mean to sound contrary, just marveling aloud at the variety in the world. If you can only manage one or two of these things, which do you pick? In any case it's very interesting all around.