that privilege meme

[firecat]

Swiped from everybody

Acknowledgment to http://quakerclass.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-privilege-do-you-have.html. The list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University.

You know, for me it will be more efficient just to include the items that didn't apply and/or have complicated answers.


* Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Technically speaking, possibly not—mom was big on getting rid of stuff we weren't using. But I had access to all the books I wanted.

* The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Insofar as I am white, yes. Insofar as I was/am fat and a geeky dresser, no. And I might argue that women and girls in general were not portrayed positively in the media in the 60s and 70s.

* Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
This trend must have come along after my time. None of my peers did, as far as I know.

* Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
I worked in the summers and that paid for a little bit.

* Had a private tutor before you turned 18
I wonder if these came along after my time, too. I mean, I know they existed before, but they seem more common now.

* Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
The clothing my mother bought me was bought new. I bought some of my own clothing at thrift stores, but that was my choice, not a necessity.

* Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
I got hand-me-down cars, but my dad worked at GM and was required to buy a GM car every year. So the hand-me-down cars I had were almost new.

* Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
Parents didn't approve of the idea, I guess. Actually, despite all the time I spent on the phone just like most teenagers, I think it never even occurred to me that I might want a phone in my room.

* Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
After my time?

* Had your own TV in your room in High School
See the bit about the phone in my room.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how many people I see responding with dismay that they score as "highly privileged" on this test, as if that meant there was something wrong with them. It doesn't mean there is something wrong with you. It just means you were given some of your opportunities and resources, and didn't start from zero. It's important to be aware of that.

Comments

[ailbhe]

It's also interesting to note how many people feel strongly that they need to emphasise that "I had privilege because my parents started from zero and worked to give me privilege" as though that somehow *deprivileges* it.

I'm pretty sure the word "deserve" is lurking here somewhere.

[firecat]

Yeah. If you read through the other comments on this post, you can see someone did that, and I asked them why it mattered. I found their answer interesting.

I agree with you that privileges are still privileges even if the parents didn't have some of them and worked to provide them.

The person who said that people whose families have been rich/powerful for generations are less likely to understand that they are privileged. That might be true.

I don't think that changes what a person "should" do (by my ethical system), though. I think anyone with privilege, however or whenever they acquired it, "should" understand how the system gives them things they didn't earn. It doesn't matter how long their families had the privilege before they had it. I also think they "should" use their extra resources to help distribute power and opportunities more fairly.

But I don't expect other people to share my ethics.

[ailbhe]

I also read that, but I've seen it in other comments threads too, in other journals.

And I don't expect other people to share my ethics, I just believe they ought to :)

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

I'm finding that there's something that I don't like about the word "privilege", and I can't quite put my finger on it. It sounds like it's left over from feudalism "the ancient privileges of the Baron of Blah blah blah" or mercantilism "the Queen grants you the monopoly on tobacco pipe manufacture".

I think under capitalism, maybe "advantage" might be a better word? (I realize that "privilege" is probably really left over from the Jim Crow era, though, and has to do more with race than class.)

And there are "natural" advantages. High energy, good health, unflappable disposition, "intelligence", social intuitions. And advantages that might be acquired: ambition, self-esteem, social skills, job skills, tolerance for change.