In 1996, her "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1 and its dig at male chauvinism endeared her to females.

NPR: Singer Mindy McCready Dies In Apparent Suicide

It was not until she entered politics in 1990, as minister for European affairs, that she felt the full force of male chauvinism.

ECONOMIST: Elisabeth Guigou, a Madame Monsieur PESC?

By the end of her journey, Ms Lynn has set aside female indignation and concludes that life in the pits is about more than male chauvinism (after all, she notes, many of the women there are out to use men).

ECONOMIST: Chicago's trading pits