Class and Privilege Meme
Dec. 31st, 2007 07:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prophet_marcusAnnotated:
BOLD WHICH APPLY TO YOU:
Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers yeah - pretty much all working class, heavily French-Canadian-American. Whoo hoo for privilege
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home We weren't poor and my folks liked to read. Readers' Digest Condensed Books series took up a couple of shelves.
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent this is just twisted. I've known trailer trash who read to their kids.
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 swimming lessons at the public pool. Tennis lessons at the public park.
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs (costs after scholarships) we're talking a semester at the cheapest state college I could find and then a year and a half of night classes. Back in the early 80's, it wasn't too much.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school catholic school for 12 years, tuition mostly covered by the parish after the insurance settlement for the parish school burning down. Literally $100 per year for high school. I had welfare case classmates.
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a child well, eventually. All through my teen years
You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School yeah - the one my parents replaced when I was about 6. My TV was older than me.
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up such as we had in my town. Free (donations accepted)
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family true, but I barely know that now and I'm the one paying them. I wasn't privileged, just oblivious.
Overall, I think this list is crap. Yes, I had some advantages over poorer people in my town and lacked some of what the better off people had. In my youth, public facilities, like swimming pools, rec centers, parks and town museums and libraries made a lot of middle class and upper middle class culture accessible to poor folk who wanted them for their kids. So caring poor parents could give their kids good opportunities and uncaring higher class parents could let their kids slide.
These days, things are harder for the working class (which has replaced the lower half of the old middle class.) Public facilites are fewer and have to charge more, college can no longer be paid for by working part time, wages vs prices leave less margin for parents to get extras for their kids like summer camps, music lessons, college. I was privileged to grow up with the last of the baby-boomers. It was a golden age.
BOLD WHICH APPLY TO YOU:
Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers yeah - pretty much all working class, heavily French-Canadian-American. Whoo hoo for privilege
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home We weren't poor and my folks liked to read. Readers' Digest Condensed Books series took up a couple of shelves.
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent this is just twisted. I've known trailer trash who read to their kids.
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 swimming lessons at the public pool. Tennis lessons at the public park.
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs (costs after scholarships) we're talking a semester at the cheapest state college I could find and then a year and a half of night classes. Back in the early 80's, it wasn't too much.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school catholic school for 12 years, tuition mostly covered by the parish after the insurance settlement for the parish school burning down. Literally $100 per year for high school. I had welfare case classmates.
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a child well, eventually. All through my teen years
You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School yeah - the one my parents replaced when I was about 6. My TV was older than me.
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up such as we had in my town. Free (donations accepted)
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family true, but I barely know that now and I'm the one paying them. I wasn't privileged, just oblivious.
Overall, I think this list is crap. Yes, I had some advantages over poorer people in my town and lacked some of what the better off people had. In my youth, public facilities, like swimming pools, rec centers, parks and town museums and libraries made a lot of middle class and upper middle class culture accessible to poor folk who wanted them for their kids. So caring poor parents could give their kids good opportunities and uncaring higher class parents could let their kids slide.
These days, things are harder for the working class (which has replaced the lower half of the old middle class.) Public facilites are fewer and have to charge more, college can no longer be paid for by working part time, wages vs prices leave less margin for parents to get extras for their kids like summer camps, music lessons, college. I was privileged to grow up with the last of the baby-boomers. It was a golden age.
