There never was a time when girls were allowed to wear pants to school. While I had a couple of pairs of pants for appropriate non-school events, I never owned a pair of jeans until I was in my 30's. I recall having to kneel to test skirt length. If the hem touched the floor when kneeling, it was ok. If the hem wasn't touching the floor, it was unacceptable and the girl was sent home to change. And yes, I recall the gender assignment of classes -- typing and home ec for girls, wood and metal shop for boys. I also recall what promised to be a very exciting civics class. The reading assignment was to read the constitution of a variety of countries. The assignment was that we (the class) were a new country and we were to write our own constitution. Sounds pretty cool, right? Well, I wasn't allowed to participate -- I had to take notes and type them up. Because I was a girl taking typing and shorthand. There were other girls in the class, but they were simply not called on during class. So, the finished product was a product of the boys.

My parents wanted to send me to college -- not because they were interesting furthering my education (because they weren't), but because they thought it would be a good place to earn my MRS. degree.

I recall a story about Boeing. A friend of my mother's (a woman) graduated with a degree in engineering. She was hired at Boeing but had to spend the first year in the typing pool before she was allowed to do engineering work.

My mother was a real estate agent but was not allowed to buy or sell property in her own name. When she wanted to sell her car and buy another one, she had to have my father's signature.

My daughter and granddaughter will never know these issues. We've come a long way, baby.