So, I saw this on Kathy’s blog (I’d link her but she’s mostly friends only). And being that a) it’s very difficult for me to resist a good meme, b) the subject matter interests me, and c) I haven’t posted in almost a month I thought I’d share. Here’s the “fine print”:
This meme 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, and Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this meme, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.
So there you have it. You know the drill. You are supposed to bold all the statements that apply to you, your upbringing, your family, etc. Little comments are fun too.
1. Father went to college (he went from high school into the Navy and then straight into his job of 35 years)
2. Father finished college (see above)
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor (my mom is a teacher, but I don’t think that’s the same as professor)
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home (I probably had more than 50 books in my bedroom)
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home (One room of our house was a library. I think it’s safe to say that there were more than 5000 books in my childhood home.)
9. Were read children’s books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (swimming, ballet, tennis)
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 (see above)
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively (I don’t even know what this means)
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. (We had a deal. They’d pay for tuition and books until we dropped out, flunked out, or got kicked out.)
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs – (I dropped out at 20, so when I went back for a semester at 26 I paid for it myself)
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp (I went to Girl Scout Day Camp for two weeks every summer, but I don’t think that counts)
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 – (Bought my own first car, they bought my second one but I had to pay them back)
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child (My mom’s best friend is an artist. I owned my own original art by the time I was 15.)
23. Had a phone in your room before you turned 18 (the only time there was a phone in my room was if I unplugged the den phone and plugged in this other phone we had and ran the cord across the hall and fervently hoped my dad wouldn’t catch me)
24. You and your family lived in a single family house
25. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
26. You had your own room as a child
27. Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course (it was through my high school and it was free, but technically I did)
28. Had your own TV in your room in High School (I didn’t have a TV in my room til I was 28)
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (My dad worked for United for 35 years, so we flew all over the place.)
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. (Totally oblivious. But living where we did we didn’t really need heat…)