"Until I was seven years old, my family referred to me as "Girl". This was a Chinese tradition as having the women in the house do all of the housework, cooking, and serving. One day my older brother's friend came to the house and said to me, "Girl - go get me a drink." And I was horrified being spoken to this way and said, "My name isn't girl. My name is Barbara and you can get your own drink!" The friend kept insisting that I serve him but my brother stood up for me and when the friend wouldn't let it go I told him he had to leave our house, and he did. That day I told my mother that my name was Barbara and I didn't want to be called "Girl" any longer." Barbara Hunt McLanahan is the Executive Director of the Children's Museum of Art in New York.