An interesting privilege meme, below the cut. (Edited to add: 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.)

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(I bolded the ones that are true for me and commented in parenthesis when appropriate.)

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college (My dad dropped out just before getting his philosophy degree at UCLA)
3. Mother went to college (My mom does have some secondary education though. She took a computer certification course after the divorce. She told my dad that she’d skip alimony if he’d pay for that. Good deal on her part and a good example for her kids.)
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. (My sister counted it once and it was somewhere in the thousands.)
9. Were read children’s books by a parent.
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (I took ballet when I was three.)
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 (This was a tough one. We didn’t really take vacations but we moved a lot and the company would put us up. We lived in a hotel once for four months after a move. After the divorce my dad took us on two vacations and both times we stayed in 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. (When I was 17 and started college I was still living at home and needed a car to get to school. My mom’s boyfriend was a used car salesman and we decided to use part of my child support to make car payments on a 1982 Datsun 310.)
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
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. (It’s weird to see this as a privilege. After the divorce one of my mom’s boyfriends gave my brother a portable television and my sister and I each got a little black and white set that Christmas. We were teenagers — my brother wasn’t — and when I think about watching tv alone in my room I feel lonely.)
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college.
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (Yes, again because we moved and at least once we flew to our new house, company expense. I remember it was Delta because I thought it was named for me — Delta Dawn — and my mom stole a spoon from the flight, which remained my favorite spoon until it was lost. I flew again when I was 16, paid for by the family I was babysitting
so I could watch their kids over holiday break.)
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. (Yes, if the Boston Children’s Museum counts. No, if it doesn’t.)
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.

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This post originally appeared at this woman’s work. You can comment at the original post.

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