**Part 1:**
Some background first:
I [Dave, 34 M, married to a beautiful young 32 yo, with two kids] am currently a tenured professor at a leading US University in Chemistry. When I was tenure-track and just joined the Uni, an older female professor (let’s call her Christine, the name changed for obvious reasons, 44 yo, mom of 3 kids) became my mentor through the tenure process. Christine was a staunch feminist, outspoken, always taking charge, thought little of men and their dominance in higher education. She was all about ‘women in sciences’ and we became very close based on the fact that I was an active male volunteer in ‘women in science’ initiatives since high school. We exchanged a lot of war stories along the way.