Naja Innis

22, New Rochelle, N.Y.

The gym teacher of my after-school program in 2007 told us that boys could play dodge ball or basketball in the gym. And he’d let them have the whole gym, not just a section of it. The girls were given hula hoops and jump ropes and relegated to a corner or a tiny room upstairs. Even at 12 or 13, I recognized that girls were not given the chance to play with a ball unless we wanted to play with the overly aggressive boys.

… I Couldn’t Play With the Boys

Julia Munsey

50, Bangor, Me.

I had just started fourth grade. It was 1975. Our teacher, Mr. Taylor, asked for a volunteer to raise the American flag for the school. He said this was a fourth-grade responsibility. Well, my hand shot up. What a cool thing to do — raise the American flag! As I waved my hand to show how eager I was, Mr. Taylor clarified. “Sorry, girls, this is only for the boys.” Disappointed, I lowered my hand. That night at dinner my parents asked how school was and I told them about the flag-raising opportunity. I said I didn’t think it was fair. They asked me what I thought I should do about it. In class, we were studying about the use of petitions to address grievances, and I said I thought I should create one to present to the teacher. They said that was a great idea. The next day I explained the petition to my classmates, who all signed except for two girls. Mr. Taylor was a little dumbfounded. He turned over the petition to the principal, who called in my parents. Only my mother was able to attend the meeting. According to her, she explained to the two male teachers how important it was for all children, regardless of gender, to participate in and learn about good citizenship. The principal stated that this had always been an activity for boys, and that it gave the Boy Scouts an opportunity to earn a badge. To which my mother countered, well, what about the Girl Scouts? The rule was changed, and both the boys and girls of the fourth grade at Little Falls School were able to raise and lower the flag of the United States of America.

Karen Cushing

60, Cambridge, Mass.

When I was in grammar school, astronauts and spies were big in popular culture. In third grade I wrote an essay titled “I Want to Be a Lady Astronaut.” A few years later, there was a TV show called “The F.B.I.” I was enthralled, and decided that I wanted to be an F.B.I. agent. My family took a trip that summer to Washington, where we went on a tour of the F.B.I. building. I was so excited! This was my dream! When the tour guide asked if there were questions, my father spoke up, saying his daughter wanted to be an agent, and did the guide have any advice. The guide answered that women were not allowed to be F.B.I. agents. I think they tried to let me down easy by saying there were other jobs in the F.B.I., like secretary. But I was very disappointed.

Julie Reynolds

67, The Dalles, Ore.

I applied for a job at the regional cherry growers co-op in the 1970s and was told I could work as a sorter. The pay was low. There were forklift operator jobs, and they paid more. I figured I could operate a forklift — I’d been working on the family farm, driving all kinds of agricultural machinery. My interviewer said sorry, they only hired men to run forklifts. I went home angry, having come up against the gender barrier in employment for the first time in the outside world. I was used to it on the ranch — wheat-truck drivers (men, who drove the wheat to the elevator and sat around between loads) earned $12 per day; house help (women, who cooked three meals and two snacks, served and cleaned up, while doing laundry and child care) made $5 per day.

Suzie Elliott

66, New York

In 1960 when I was 10 and lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, I went to a Girl Scout event at which a Roman Catholic priest spoke. We moved a lot and I remember maybe five things about my life in fifth grade, but I can still picture that large auditorium we were sitting in and him saying, “One day you may have a son who changes the world.”