posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladyslvr at 02:42pm on 01/01/2008
ladyslvr at 02:42pm on 01/01/2008Gakked from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
starborn_scribe: 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
Yup. As did his father and his father. Also, his mother and grandmother.
Father finished college
Yes. As did his father and his father. I'm not sure about the next generation back. (His mother and grandmother also finished college).
Mother went to college
Yes.
Mother finished college
Yes, but not until she was in her forties.
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Yes, a first cousin who is an attorney. There are no physicians or professors in my family, unless you count me as a professor.
Were the same or higher socio-economic class than your high school teachers
I'm not sure.
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Yes.
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Easily. And they were all mine.
Were read children's books by a parent
Yes.
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
Constantly.
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
Ballet, gymnastics, swimming, karate, clay modeling, art, Spanish, golf, tumbling . . . I'm sure the list should be longer.
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Nope. They're always, always portrayed as stuck up snobs who think of no one except themselves and who are interested only in screwing over (or, just outright screwing) as many people as they possibly can.
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
No.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
Yes.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Yes, though I did have at least one job all through college except my freshman year.
Went to a private high school
No.
Went to summer camp
Yes.
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Yes. I had a Spanish tutor when I was 7. All I got out of that was how to play "Simón dice."
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Sometimes. Family vacations mostly involved staying at my grandfather's house.
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
As an older child, yes, though I did inherit a lot of clothes from my cousins. As a younger child, my mom made most of my clothes.
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
Hell, no. It has always been made very clear to me that if I wanted a car, I would have to buy it myself. So I did.
There was original art in your house when you were a child
If you count the stuff I made in clay modeling class, then yes.
You and your family lived in a single family house
Yes.
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
No. They still don't.
You had your own room as a child
Yes.
You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
I had a phone in my room before I turned 18, but I didn't have a phone jack. The phone was a Christmas present when I was 16 in preparation for my impending college life.
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course<
Nope. Don't believe in them.
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Another Hell, no.
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Yes. I started an IRA for myself when I got my first "real" job at the age of 15 ("real" as opposed to babysitting, delivering newspapers, or mowing lawns).
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
I went on my first flight when I was 10 months old. We flew multiple times a year after that.
Went on a cruise with your family
Yes.
Went on more than one cruise with your family
No.
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
Yes. We lived forty minutes from downtown Chicago. Going to the museums was what we did over the summer.
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
Huh? I never knew how much my parents made; to this day, I'm not even sure what my father does, but I always knew how much the household bills were since it was part of my job to help keep them low.
So, what are we supposed to be determining from this game?
starborn_scribe: 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
Yup. As did his father and his father. Also, his mother and grandmother.
Father finished college
Yes. As did his father and his father. I'm not sure about the next generation back. (His mother and grandmother also finished college).
Mother went to college
Yes.
Mother finished college
Yes, but not until she was in her forties.
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Yes, a first cousin who is an attorney. There are no physicians or professors in my family, unless you count me as a professor.
Were the same or higher socio-economic class than your high school teachers
I'm not sure.
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Yes.
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Easily. And they were all mine.
Were read children's books by a parent
Yes.
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
Constantly.
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
Ballet, gymnastics, swimming, karate, clay modeling, art, Spanish, golf, tumbling . . . I'm sure the list should be longer.
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Nope. They're always, always portrayed as stuck up snobs who think of no one except themselves and who are interested only in screwing over (or, just outright screwing) as many people as they possibly can.
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
No.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
Yes.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Yes, though I did have at least one job all through college except my freshman year.
Went to a private high school
No.
Went to summer camp
Yes.
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Yes. I had a Spanish tutor when I was 7. All I got out of that was how to play "Simón dice."
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Sometimes. Family vacations mostly involved staying at my grandfather's house.
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
As an older child, yes, though I did inherit a lot of clothes from my cousins. As a younger child, my mom made most of my clothes.
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
Hell, no. It has always been made very clear to me that if I wanted a car, I would have to buy it myself. So I did.
There was original art in your house when you were a child
If you count the stuff I made in clay modeling class, then yes.
You and your family lived in a single family house
Yes.
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
No. They still don't.
You had your own room as a child
Yes.
You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
I had a phone in my room before I turned 18, but I didn't have a phone jack. The phone was a Christmas present when I was 16 in preparation for my impending college life.
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course<
Nope. Don't believe in them.
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Another Hell, no.
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Yes. I started an IRA for myself when I got my first "real" job at the age of 15 ("real" as opposed to babysitting, delivering newspapers, or mowing lawns).
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
I went on my first flight when I was 10 months old. We flew multiple times a year after that.
Went on a cruise with your family
Yes.
Went on more than one cruise with your family
No.
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
Yes. We lived forty minutes from downtown Chicago. Going to the museums was what we did over the summer.
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
Huh? I never knew how much my parents made; to this day, I'm not even sure what my father does, but I always knew how much the household bills were since it was part of my job to help keep them low.
So, what are we supposed to be determining from this game?
(no subject)
I think that it's just supposed to be a bit of an eye opener.
(no subject)
It assumes (as
It also assumes that you lived with parents as opposed to foster homes or with other relatives or in other situations.
It assumes that having certain things are a sign of wealth rather than a sign of the times (like televisions). So if someone who's over 40 or so takes this test, they come out as being less privileged than they might have been because they lived in a time when such commodities as televisions and cars were less commonly thrown around.
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
This question bothered me a lot because it assumes that you had heating, it assumes you needed it, it assumes that not knowing is a sign of privilege rather than you being a child or your parents not talking to you about money.
I think we're just supposed to learn that this meme is stupid.
(no subject)
But it seems to be making a lot of assumptions without mapping. So, I had over 500 books in my home. OK, what's your point? Is that because my parents are university educated; because I'm from an upper-middle-class background; because I'm white; or because my dad has a hearing disability that makes him unable to appreciate TV, or therefore we didn't watch much of it? Oh, wait, that option's not on the list.
Others of the assumptions just made me annoyed. E.g. the implicit idea that because my parents are from a higher class, they would therefore also buy me a new car. In fact, it was part of my parents' class to force their driving-age-children to buy their own cars. The vast majority of people with whom I went to school (in our upper-middle-class neighborhood) got jobs the second they were legally able so they could start saving for their future car.
From poking around on the site this questionnaire came from, it looks like the researchers are trying to open a dialogue about why people from different classes have trouble communicating. An admirable goal. Except every single thing they've done is predicated on stereotypes, and on a very limited pool of options.
Then there's this one, which struck me as a very bizarre questions to end on:
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
As you said:
This question bothered me a lot because it assumes that you had heating, it assumes you needed it, it assumes that not knowing is a sign of privilege rather than you being a child or your parents not talking to you about money.
The questionnaire is designed by people in Indiana, presumably for people in Indiana. So assuming that people have and need heat in their homes is fair enough. And I think I can see what their reasoning is: children of privilege aren't invited into the family discussions about money; therefore not knowing your heating bills growing up means you're from a wealthy (and therefore white) family. Whereas children from lower socioeconomic classes would be part of the family discussions because money is so tight that every member has to be aware of what's going on at all times. But, here we are again with the assumptions. ::sighs::
(no subject)
Another thing that it doesn't factor in is how many children there are in the family. Sure, both my parents were college educated, and I get two hits on the "attorney, physician, or professor" because my mother was a physician and my father was a professor, but factor in five children and the money gets tighter, particularly since my mother didn't work full time, because she was, like, raising us.