Sunday, January 20, 2008

My Privileges

I found this very interesting. I did not grow up in what I would consider a privileged home. My dad was a school teacher and my mom was a secretary. There were plenty of things we could never afford (Gloria Vanderbilt jeans come to mind - remember those?). Yet I was able to say "yes" to more than half of these.

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.
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
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
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
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 [kid's work is original!]
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 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
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

HT: My Thoughtful Spot

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is very interesting. My dad was a school teacher too and my mom was a SAHM so we were definitely not privileged, but still I had cello and ballet lessons before I was 18 and my mother read to me lots. I would definitely consider myself privileged in those areas. Thanks for posting this.

I hope you're feeling better too,
Kristiana

Tami, full-time mom; part-time foodie said...

Oh, this makes me feel like such a loser! I guess I grew up underprivileged! I only had 3 of these. Oh well, thank the Lord for the blessing of self-education. I still turned out fine, I guess.

: )
Tami

Phyllis said...

Interesting! I could answer yes to 22 of these, even though our family income was below the official poverty level. We never thought that we were poor.