I watched the live action Mulan last night, in which our eponymous hero gifted with inordinate amounts of Chi (spell it how you like) disguises herself as a man and becomes a famous warrior, saving the Emperor’s life and saving the kingdom etc.

I was struck by the parallels to so many women’s lives including my own.

Working in a ‘man’s industry’ you avoid ‘feminine’ clothes and dress ‘unisex’ if not in men’s clothes like I did so as not to ‘distract’ the men or give them ‘the wrong impression’.

I will add you’d have had to be blind to be fooled by Mulan in the film but hey, work of fiction.

Still - IRL - you have to blend into that Man Club and put up with the ‘bantz’ and the dirty jokes, the hard core porn being left on when you’re in the room as

a test to see if you’re ‘one of the lads’ or a ‘crybaby’. You don’t get any privacy or private washing facilities for women because there aren’t any women normally. No sanitary bins, and it’s sneaking in the shower when the men have finished. Just like Mulan.

You have to have massive Chi and be 100 times as tough, good at your job as the men and above comment, 1 slip and they’ll be there saying women shouldn’t be in the industry, they cause trouble, upset the men, are weak and a drag, etc etc - Mulan knew it.

Don’t expect to be paid the same as the men or paid at all. You’re there on sufferance even if they need your skills. You’ll make a few allies as Mulan did but unlike Mulan, you won’t be given a nice sword and the Kingdom’s undying gratitude.

If you go on to become a Captain in your industry as Mulan did in the Emperor’s army, you’ll find relationships difficult as your status will upset the normal male-female power balance and men get funny about that - god help you if you earn more than them.

Your every move will be scrutinised and you’ll be reviled as a ball breaker, a monster, a Queen Bitch. Other women will resent you and your family may well not understand why you can’t just ‘settle down and give them a grandchild’.

Years later - and perhaps this happened to Mulan - you will be told you’re an inspiration, a role model. You’ll carry your battle scars, some of which never fully heal, like Mulan the Warrior will have done and look at your work and wonder if it was worth it.

It was. Because it was your work, and what you were destined to do. Just like Mulan.

I would rather like the sword, though