Privileged origins meme
Jan. 3rd, 2008 09:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fannishlissI was brought up on a farm in rural West Virginia, as an eighth-generation West Virginian. We didn't have a lot of money but we had a lot of resources and were well-educated. As a result my class origins are pretty strange for an American. I have the relationship to money that someone who's never had it, has. Yet I have the orientation towards non-profit and charitable work of someone from a much higher socio-economic class. I have done manual labor... but now work in the artists and thinkers class, as an editor, arts programmer, music teacher, and performer.
Based on an exercise 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, PLEASE acknowledge their copyright. BOLD WHICH APPLY TO YOU:
* Father went to college -- two years of community college -- my dad was a farmer
* Father finished college
* Mother went to college
* Mother finished college -- Mom was a teacher, and later returned for her master's degree
* Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor -- my dad's father's brother was the "town doctor" for decades
* Were the same or higher socio-economic class than your high school teachers -- well, pretty much exactly, since my mom was their colleague, though she taught at the elementary school.
* Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
* Had more than 500 books in your childhood home -- due to my own obsessive collecting of books. I now refuse to even estimate how many books there are in my house. There are probably 500 books in my boy's room alone.
* Were read children's books by a parent
* Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 -- this sort of thing was unavailable out in the country, but I had piano lessons for many years
* 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 -- scholarship student. My parents paid less in total for my undergrad degree at a private women's college than parents now pay for one year at our local private elementary school! I eventually emerged from school with a Ph. D. in literature and no debt whatsoever.
* Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
* Went to a private high school
* Went to summer camp -- 4H camp for one week. was miserable though!
* Family vacations involved staying at hotels
* Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 - my mother was of an underprivileged origin and painstakingly avoided used clothing.
* There was original art in your house when you were a child -- well, my aunt painted a still life that hangs in the kitchen. Also, my sister became a painter.
* You and your family lived in a single family house - farmhouse, built for my grandparents.
* Your parent(s) owned their own house(s) or apartment before you left home - the house belonged to my grandmother, who we lived with, but she transferred the deed to my dad before I left home.
* You had your own room as a child
* 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 -
* 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
* You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family -- my dad's brother ran a heating oil company. So when our heating oil tank was filled, it was my Uncle doing the work!
Based on an exercise 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, PLEASE acknowledge their copyright. BOLD WHICH APPLY TO YOU:
* Father went to college -- two years of community college -- my dad was a farmer
* Father finished college
* Mother went to college
* Mother finished college -- Mom was a teacher, and later returned for her master's degree
* Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor -- my dad's father's brother was the "town doctor" for decades
* Were the same or higher socio-economic class than your high school teachers -- well, pretty much exactly, since my mom was their colleague, though she taught at the elementary school.
* Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
* Had more than 500 books in your childhood home -- due to my own obsessive collecting of books. I now refuse to even estimate how many books there are in my house. There are probably 500 books in my boy's room alone.
* Were read children's books by a parent
* Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 -- this sort of thing was unavailable out in the country, but I had piano lessons for many years
* 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 -- scholarship student. My parents paid less in total for my undergrad degree at a private women's college than parents now pay for one year at our local private elementary school! I eventually emerged from school with a Ph. D. in literature and no debt whatsoever.
* Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
* Went to a private high school
* Went to summer camp -- 4H camp for one week. was miserable though!
* Family vacations involved staying at hotels
* Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 - my mother was of an underprivileged origin and painstakingly avoided used clothing.
* There was original art in your house when you were a child -- well, my aunt painted a still life that hangs in the kitchen. Also, my sister became a painter.
* You and your family lived in a single family house - farmhouse, built for my grandparents.
* Your parent(s) owned their own house(s) or apartment before you left home - the house belonged to my grandmother, who we lived with, but she transferred the deed to my dad before I left home.
* You had your own room as a child
* 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 -
* 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
* You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family -- my dad's brother ran a heating oil company. So when our heating oil tank was filled, it was my Uncle doing the work!
