Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Privilege Meme

Stolen from PhizzleDizzle, so I can remind myself of all the reasons why I am doing all this crazy shit to get into grad school. 

The items that apply to me are BOLD

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 (a prof @ a community college)

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 see above 

12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively (this is more of a maybe - considering women's portrayals overall)

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 (my grandmother is a painter - they were all her work)

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 college entrance exam (eg. SAT/ACT) prep course

28. Had your own TV in your room 

29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College 

30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (always to visit my aunt)

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. 

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.

I wonder if I could work all of this into a personal statement......j/k

3 comments:

PhizzleDizzle said...

seriously, looking at everyone else's privilege memes makes me feel like a whiny little bitch. i don't even think this quick quiz a very accurate assessment, but still, the fact that mine is mostly bold and everyone else who has done it isn't...makes me feel...like a whiny little bitch. ergh.

ok, i'm even whining about how i think i must whine to much. shut up phizzle!!!!!

on a total other note, you can do it.

Isabel said...

I had 1,7, 10 (swimming), 12-sometimes my race is portrayed positively, but my race and class together is usually portrayed negatively, 17 (local day camp where I took the swim lessons),22 (all by immediate family members), 23, 25 (in high school), 34 (actual dollar amounts/stress of paying the bills were not usually discussed).

For my grad school (very progressive and "diversity" focused) two statements were required, one specifically asking how you would contribute to diversity, so I did focus on my background for that one, and brought it in to the other briefly, while trying to keep an upbeat tone all around.

btw there's a pretty interesting book called something like "limbo:blue collar roots, white collar dreams" (I know bad and inaccurately worded title!) that interviews a ton of people (150+) including many academics, that he calls 'straddlers', about their experiences moving up the socioeconomic ladder.

leigh said...

this was an interesting exercise. it's amazing to see how so many of us are working so hard to achieve... this is really my ideal of the american dream.

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