I was having a chat with my aunt about this - she's now in her 70's, and was a surgeon and GP - going to med school in about 1946.
She encountered a lot of raised eyebrows - came from a working class family as well, and lots of people thought then that female doctors would never have the trust of patients, even female ones! They told her she'd never be able to raise a family (wrong, 2 daughters), or have time to keep home and husband, wrong. A lot of male doctors were certain that the hours, stress etc. were beyond women...
Wake up lads - the cockpit is no longer a male preserve - and by the way - 65% of med students in the UK are..........women!