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January 06, 2008
What Privileges Do You Have?
This is an interesting meme I've seen floating mainly around Livejournal. According to Moriarty6 over there, this is "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" and he notes that if you fill out the meme, the creators ask that you credit them.
I don't know entirely how much I agree with this, not having looked into these folks' research a whole lot. One one hand, privilege is privilege, but on the other hand I have known some folks over the years who could mark a lot of these statements as true for them, who I would consider coming from a background of interrupted privilege in terms of poverty, government intervention in their family life, mental illness, etc. Privilege to me is what you have backing you up to increase your odds of success. Like Wikipedia points out, privilege isn't just a matter of wealth or indicators of wealth, but is a matter of political power as well.
However you want to consider it, this meme is interesting at least as a reminder that some things our middle-class centric pop-culture has deemed overwhelmingly normal (like college being the new high school, being grade 13) isn't really true, which is in turn a reminder of how much we try to hide and ignore class issues, especially on the poorer end of the spectrum. It's also an interesting reminder of how complex class issues are, and how far they extend beyond simply what kind of job you have (if you have one) and how much money you have in the bank.
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
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(I was unclear on what exactly this one meant, but I'm bolding it according to my mom's interpretation below)
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively. (I could go either way on this. Intellectuals and ex-hippies don't get much positive press these days, but articulate, bright students do.)
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. (Scholarships sure do help, however)
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.
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18.
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels.
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18. (I had a mix of cheap new, and hand-me-downs from friends)
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. (Does that mean own outright or mortgage?)
25. You had your own room as a child. (Only child)
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18.
27. Participated in a 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.
31. Went on a cruise with your family. (I was an infant, though. No tropical memories for me.)
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. (Never knew the numbers, but knew money was tight sometimes.)
*The Lessons Statement: My mom has suggested that lessons might mean piano lessons, dance lessons, something of that sort.
| By Spike | 02:48 PM
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