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[zinnea]

Just for the record, I hate that "privilege" meme. I think there are several items on it that say nothing at all about whether or not the person taking the survey was privileged as a child but say a lot about the class snobbishness and condescension of the people who created it.

Comments

[taldragon]

i did notice that the writers assumed fathers went to college but that mothers didnt.

[zinnea]

I didn't get that out of it, unless there's more than one version. What I c&p'ed below asks about both.

[taldragon]

i've seen ones with both (now. the early ones didnt have "father went to college")

Re: Here is my list.

[zinnea]

Ah, I see. I wonder if it's been edited in the repostings.

[kukla_red]

Where was this? I must have missed something somewhere. Which is pretty typical for me.

Here's the text of it

[zinnea]

You're meant to bold or italicize things that apply to you

Here is my list.

[kukla_red]

Feel free to add to it

1. You experienced unconditional love.

2. You were hugged on a regular basis.

3. You were expected to do chores not for a reward or allowance but because it was part of being in a family and making your contribution.

4. You learned to share.

5. Your parents made sure to spend one on one time with you, no matter how busy they were or how many siblings you had.

6. You found "I love you" notes in your school lunch bag which were embarrassing but you secretly liked getting.

7. You were taught to stand up for others, as well as learning how to stand up for yourself.

8. You were expected to read the newspaper and watch the news on TV so you would grow up knowing about the world around you.

9. You knew what your parents did for a living and even got to visit their workplace so you could see it for yourself.

10. Compassion was not just something they talked about in religious services but something discussed and lived at home.

Re: Here is my list.

[blushingflower]

But that has to do with how good your parents were, not the kind of class privilege you grew up with.
Though I count myself blessed that I can say all those things would be bolded if it were a meme.

[blushingflower]

I think you're right about that.
But I still found it interesting that there were things on it that I just assume everyone had as a kid that apparently they didn't.

[zinnea]

I thought you raised a really good point in your journal about being an only child.

[blushingflower]

My undergrad adviser was an anthropologist, and he had some interesting thoughts about only children- he argued that only children have a lot more weight put on them to bear up to their parents hopes and dreams, which might be true, but my parents put a lot less pressure on me than the parents of many of my friends with siblings. People are often surprised when I say that I liked being an only child, even though occasionally I wish I had an older brother or a sister. I realize that I had a lot of opportunities because of it that I wouldn't have if I'd had siblings.

[taldragon]

one of my best friends is an only child, and seems to feel much the same way.

[scien]

Gah. Me too. I was considerint writing a reply, but realised I had an objection to most of the questions.

[zinnea]

I am willing to concede that the meme may be taken out of context, but, then...I dunno. I just hate the way the questions are phrased.

[zinnea]

Well, for one thing, I think it's important to note that the sort of "privilege" to which this survey refers to is entirely circumstantial. Paris Hilton didn't even finish high school and neither of her parents went to high school and yet her life is way, way more privileged than the college-educated daughter of two college-educated parents who is working as a teacher during the day and a waitress on the weekends because her ex-husband ran off and left her with two young children, one of whom has chronic health problems, and a whole slew of bills

[zinnea]

Oh, don't feel bad! I think most people who posted it just thought, "Hmm...this is interesting". I just go on high alert whenever I see memes about "privilege" because I think a lot of discussion about "privilege" is actually rather bigoted.